The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs are underway! The regular season is finished and we have the final standings. Coming out of the East as the number one team we have the Miami Heat, the Celtics are the second seed, Bucks in the three seed, 76ers in the four seed, Raptors in the five seed, and Bulls are the six seed. In the West, we have the number one seeded Phoenix Suns, then the Grizzlies as the second seed, and Warriors In the third seed, Mavericks at the fourth seed, Jazz as the fifth, and Nuggets at the six seed. The best odds to win the finals belong to the Suns, and the best sleeper is the four seed Dallas Mavericks led by Luka Doncic.

The playoffs kicked off with an exciting first round full of good matchups. The Western Conference games started with the bottom seed, the New Orleans Pelicans going up against the top-seed Phoenix Suns. The series was tied 2-2 and looked like it was going to be close, but the Suns ran away with the next two games and won the series 4-2. The next series in the west was between the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz. Despite the Jazz’s impressive regular season, they dropped the series to the Mavs and had another first round exit from the playoffs. The next matchup was between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets. Although Nikola Jokic had an MVP caliber season, the red-hot Warriors and returning Steph Curry were too much to handle as they won the series four games to one.

The final series in the west was between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Minnesota Timberwolves. There was a large display of talent in this series among the young stars in the league, especially from Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards. The Grizzlies were able to handle the Timberwolves and won the series in six games. Now on the other side of the league in the Eastern Conference the Brooklyn Nets took on the 2-seeded Boston Celtics. The Nets couldn’t keep up with the young Celtics team and lost the series in only four games. The next matchup was between the reigning NBA champions, the Milwaukee Bucks who hosted the Chicago Bulls. The Bucks were easily able to contain the Bulls’ offense and won the series 4-1. The next matchup was between the Philadelphia 76’ers and the Toronto Raptors. Joel Embid dominated the entire series and led the 76’ers to a series win in six games. The final matchup was the one-seed Miami Heat taking on Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat played superb defense the whole series and contained Trae Young which propelled them to win the series in five games.

The playoffs are just getting started and everyone is very excited about what’s to come with the rest of the playoffs. Will the favored Suns win it all or will an underdog team like the Mavs reign victorious?