The first round of the NBA playoffs are done and teams have punched their tickets to the second round. 

The Philadelphia 76ers swept the Brooklyn Nets. Even with the absence of MVP frontrunner center Joel Embiid, they came out victorious in game four to complete the sweep. The Atlanta Hawks gave the Boston Celtics a little trouble in taking 2 of their 6 game series, but the Celtics prevailed 4-2. 

The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 5 games even in the absence of all-star forward Julius Randle. But in most GHS students the most disappointing series was the Bucks, were upset in 5 games by the #8 seed Miami Heat who were led by the phenomenal performances by Jimmy Butler and not great performances by the Bucks. Butler was playing out of his mind this series, averaging 37.6 points a game 

“The Heat surprised me the most with the upset against the Bucks who were the 1 seed and the stellar performances by Jimmy Butler who took over the last two games of the series to secure the win,” senior Grayson Sinks said. 

Giannis was injured in game one and many fans were hopeful when Giannis was cleared after game two but those hopes were crushed when the white hot Heat stayed hot to close out the series, “When Giannis was cleared my hopes were up and I was thinking Bucks in 6 just like the finals,” senior Cason Wilson said. 

Now, what was the cause fans really don’t know. Was it Giannis missing game 2, the coaching, or other star players not stepping up? Fans may never know, but one thing is for sure, Butler was on a complete tear in this series and he will most likely continue this momentum into the rest of the playoffs.  

In the West the Nuggets and Suns came out practically untouched both coming out in 5 games. The Grizzlies were upset even after Ja Morant claimed he was fine out in the west but Lebron had something to say about that and the Lakers came out on top in 6 games. 

The most entertaining series by far was the only 7 game series in the first round, which was the Warriors against the Kings. The Warriors came out on top with the help of Steph Curry’s legacy game. “I think we have to start talking about Curry more when it comes to the GOAT,” sophomore Luke Mattes said.

There have been some stellar performances already this postseason with the Suns leading scoring being Devin Booker has had two, 40 point games. The Denver Nuggets, with runner up in the NBA MVP race Nikola Jokic, lead the Nuggets to a series win, with two triple doubles and one 40 point game. 

Butler’s 56-point game helped the Miami heat an upset over the Milwaukee Bucks. Even in his 20th year in the league Lebron James led the Lakers to a win over the Grizzlies with a 20 point, 20 rebound game in game four. 

Young star guard Jalen Brunson led the way for the New York Knicks to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kings against the Warriors were led by the all star guard play of De’Aaron Fox and Steph Curry. Fox had 38 in two games while Curry dropped 50 in game 7 to lead the Warriors to a 20 point victory and a round 1 advancement.

The Hawks’ Trae Young was trying to lead a comeback against the Boston Celtics having had three 30 point games with 9 plus assists as well. But superstar forward Jayson Tatum stopped the Hawks and pushed his Celtic team to a first round advancement.

Although the Bucks are out, fans are still eager to watch this year’s NBA playoffs. 

“I think the Nuggets look good and in my opinion are favored out of the west. The east I think will be the Celtics with Tatum and Brown are going to be hard to beat in a 7 game series,” Sinks said. 

With round two underway anything can happen in the NBA playoffs with superstars getting hurt and players stepping up. It’s all up in the air ahead of round 2.