The Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, reigning champs Golden State Warriors, and Portland Trail Blazers are the final teams standing. Where did Shia LaBeouf get married -round series would have been attention-grabbing, given Kevin Durant 's historical past together with his former group, but the one crew that would give the Warriors much pause within the West is the Rockets, especially if Chris Paul can keep wholesome.
With 4 seconds left, Leonard has the ball and the possibility to win the series. Nevertheless, college hoops normally begins off with a bang with high five teams colliding in regular season tournaments. The younger duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets to the Western Convention Semifinals after earning the No. 2 seed in the West.
The Spurs beat all but one of the prime groups in the West (Houston) greater than as soon as through the regular season, and their jelling course of took way more time than regular as a result of they had to strip down many of the complexities of the defensive system to accommodate all the new faces within the lineups.
With every win in increasingly hostile environments these playoffs, it is easy to forget that these are the Toronto Raptors. The Convention remaining video games will begin Tuesday, May 19 and Wednesday, Might 20 (possibly moved up to May 17 and May 18).
All rounds of the NBA Playoffs are greatest-of-7 games. The success of function players like Marc Gasol, Norm Powell, Serge Ibaka, and Fred VanVleet in Recreation four's blowout victory ought to remind Leonard that Toronto didn't want him to hold your entire load for many of the common season.
The Denver Nuggets limped over the line like a marathon runner, however they did defeat the San Antonio Spurs in Sport 7. That sets up a second-round collection with Damian Lillard's Portland Trail Blazers, with the winner reaching the doorstep of the Finals.
If there is one weak spot to level to heading into the playoffs, it's that lack of time to kind every thing out. After dropping to the Rockets in Games three and four in Houston, the Golden State Warriors' odds of profitable the NBA championship are the worst they've been all season.
The Kings missed the playoffs by 9 games final year but were ninth in the West. 1. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will play in fewer than 60 common-season video games collectively. When it comes to wonderful NBA Playoff collection, the rivalries of the 1990s did a fantastic job of creating drama that has lived lengthy beyond their era.
The primary of the 76ers' two midseason all-in deals has not precisely gone easily this season, however Recreation 2 in opposition to the Raptors showed why the 76ers made the trade. Final season, the purpose guard performed 46 video games, averaging 9.2 factors and 8.zero assists in 29.8 minutes per sport.