The NBA playoffs have fans jumping up in their seats as the first-round games these past two weeks have been both thrilling and shocking.
Our hometown team, the Golden State Warriors, got the last play-in seed spot and had to travel to play the Los Angeles Clippers.
Although the Warriors won 126-121 on April 15 in a Stephen Curry 35-point master class, Golden State was eliminated by the Phoenix Suns two days later, falling 111-96 and failing to make the playoffs.
The reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder earned the Western Conference top seed and continued dominance by sweeping the Suns 4-0 in the opening round.
The Thunder went 68-14 in the regular season behind reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 31.1 points per game. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of four finalists for the MVP again this year and has a chance to lead his team to back-to-back titles.
In the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons earned the top seed and are searching for their first title since 2004.
The Pistons went 60-22 in the regular season, but most NBA experts and fans would have expected them to earn a top seed. What’s even more surprising is the Pistons went down 3-1 to the
Orlando Magic before winning Game 5 last Wednesday.
The Magic made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers and then beating the Charlotte Hornets in the play-in games to reach the playoffs.
Detroit’s main scorer is the young guard Cade Cunningham, who averaged 23.9 per game this season.
Besides the Thunder and Pistons, there are other teams to watch for as the playoffs continue.
The Boston Celtics are the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and definitely a team to watch. The Celtics went 56-26, but were tied 3-3 with the 76ers heading into Saturday’s game. Results were not available before The Californian went to press.
Jaylen Brown and a recently recovered Jayson Tatum are both dominant scorers and have been helping the Celtics seek another title. But they have to get past the 76ers first.
Another team to watch in the Western Conference is the San Antonio Spurs, which earned the No. 2 seed after a 62-20 record. Their main scorer is the 7-foot-4 star Victor Wembanyama, who averaged 25 points per game. Wembanyama is only 22 years old and is already an elite player.
The Spurs beat the Portland Trial Blazers 4-1 in their opening series and now face the Minnesota Timberwolves, who just eliminated the Denver Nuggets 4-2 last Thursday.
My final predictions for this year’s Western Conference Finals is the Spurs vs Thunder. OKC, the favorite to win the West, will play one of the of the best players in the NBA in Wemby.
I originally had Minnesota winning the Western Conference, but with Anthony Edwards nursing a knee injury, I’m going with Wemby.
The Spurs have beaten OKC in four of five games this season, so I’m picking the Spurs to upset OKC and reach their first NBA Finals since 2013.
In the Eastern Conference, I’m going with Boston over Detroit in seven games.
This leads me to going with the Celtics over the Spurs in seven games in the NBA Finals.
