The NBA Playoffs: Where Stars are Made, Fade, and sometimes, get PAID

After the Second Round, neither of the finalists from last year’s playoffs are still in the running 

The 2022 NBA Playoffs has been full of spills and thrills, with numerous star players like Lebron James, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Damian Lillard all missing the postseason. Despite that, the fury of rising stars like Ja Morant, Jordan Poole, Anthony Edwards, Herbert Jones, and Jaren Jackon Jr. have illustrated that the league is in great hands. 

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was recently named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the second straight season, getting the nod over Philadelphia Sixers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antentokoumpo. 

The cruel irony is that none of the MVP finalists from this season made it past the second round, with all three of them losing running mates and fighting their own injuries along the way. Jokic lost his wingmen Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to season-ending injuries, Embiid sustained an orbital bone fracture in his face in the first round, and Antentokoumpo lost Khris Middleton to a knee injury in the first round. Injuries have come to the forefront of the playoffs once again, and the healthiest team may just win out over the usual frontrunners.

As the playoffs have progressed, it has been a return to the top for former powerhouses like the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks – all of whom have won a title in the last 15 years. 

The Heat dispatched the Atlanta Hawks in round one before rolling into Philadelphia in Game 6 and snatching the Sixers’ soul en route to an Eastern Conference finals berth. They are set to face off against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, May 17, led by first year head coach Ime Udoka, who has done a memorable job transforming the defense after former coach Brad Stevens moved up to the front office. 

Boston’s star power has also come into play, with Jayson Tatum rising to the top as a top three player in the playoffs. Couple Tatum with his wingman Jaylen Brown providing staunch play, along with defensive player of the year Marcus Smart and the resurgent Al Horford, and the Celtics are looking like a buzzsaw. 

They defended home court in Boston for Games 1 and 2, and then went into Brooklyn for Games 3 and 4 and won, sweeping the Nets 4-0 in the first round. The bonus of the sweep for the Celtics was embarrassing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the process. Up next were the defending champions, the Bucks. 

This series was a war from start to finish with each team laying blow after blow setting in motion a Game 7 showdown at TD Garden in Boston. Grant Williams would steal the show and the series for the Celtics, putting up 27 points with seven 3-pointers on the way to a 109-81 victory. 

Game 1 versus the Heat on Tuesday was a roller coaster ride for Boston. DPOY Marcus Smart was ruled out with a foot injury while Al Horford entered health and safety protocols, two critical role players for the Celtics. That didn’t deter Jayson Tatum initially, who had 21 first half points in South Beach that resulted in a lead as big as 12 points and a 62-54 lead at halftime over the home team Miami. 

However, the Celtics’ lack of depth with two starters out reared its ugly head after halftime. The Heat opened up the second half on a 10-1 run, taking the lead 64-63 and never looking back. The lead would expand to as much as 20 points in an avalanche of a second half and a 118-107 victory for the number one seed Heat. Jimmy Butler was prolific, with 41 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists along with Tyler Herro who had 18 points off the bench. Here are the final stats. 

On the Western Conference side, the controlled chaos of this playoff season is more than apparent. The Warriors are finally healthy — Klay Thompson is reminding the world who he is, and Draymond Green is reaffirming his steady presence as the heart and soul of the franchise. Throw in first ballot hall-of-famer Stephen Curry and a rising star in Jordan Poole, and it looks like the Warriors will have a good chance at getting back to the top for the first time since their move to San Francisco in 2019. 

Golden State advanced against the shorthanded Nuggets in five games despite a herculean effort from MVP Nikola Jokic. They then went on to face the upstart Memphis Grizzlies, where Ja Morant rose to the occasion before a knee injury at the end of a lopsided Game 3 forced him to miss the rest of the playoffs. Golden State beat the Grizzlies in six games, overcoming the injuries of Gary Payton II and Andre Igoudala to earn a spot in the Western Conference Finals. The championship series starts on May 18 against the Dallas Mavericks.

The second-round Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns in itself was a movie that had its ups and downs for both teams. Dallas fell short in the first two games in Phoenix, essentially leaving Luka Doncic to handle the Suns superstars in Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and DeAndre Ayton. The tide turned in Dallas, where the Maverick 3-pointers were flying aplenty from Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Spencer Dinwiddie. The series stood at 2-2 heading into a crucial Game 5 in Phoenix, where the Suns humiliated Dallas 110-80. The Mavericks had their backs against the wall but managed to pull out a win and return the favor in a slaughter of a Game 6. 

Devin Booker had been making fun of Doncic, referring to his flop as “The Luka Special ” in Game 5. Doncic would retort after the game that “everybody acts tough when they are up ” (PHX was up 3-2). 

After a Dallas win in Game 6, the stage was set for Game 7 in Phoenix. What ensued was a shocking series of events that no one saw coming. Dallas got on the throttle from the start, forcing the Suns into missed shot after missed shot while Doncic and Dinwiddie went inferno in the first half. At halftime, the score was 57-27 in favor of the visiting Mavericks, with 27 points by Doncic and 20 by Dinwiddie. It was curtains after that, with the Mavericks getting ahead by as much as 46 points before winning 123-90 and earning a berth in the WCF against the Warriors. 

In front of a raucous crowd at Chase Center in San Francisco, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals got underway. Out of the gate, both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket, with Dallas chucking three pointers at an absurd rate, where they ended up 3/17 from the three point line after the first quarter. The Warriors turned to their role players for early contributions with Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, and Draymond Green bringing the energy in the paint. They were able to harass Dallas star Luka Doncic into several turnovers, which were assisted by the fact that his teammates like Jalen Brunson and Reggie Bullock couldn’t shoot it in the Pacific Ocean if they wanted to. 

Golden State had a 54-45 lead at the half, which didn’t look so bad for the visitors considering all the missed shots. In the second half it was more of the same, with Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole waking up and putting the Mavericks to rest. Doncic was rattled, the team was rattled, and that was all she wrote as Dallas fell down by as much as 30 before losing 112-87 to give Golden State a 1-0 lead.Here are the final stats. 

Game 2’s of each series will be critical to see who can rebound after some tough losses. In this case, can the Boston Celtics get healthy? Can the Dallas Mavericks shooting return to form? This is also the first time where coaches can make significant adjustments to their gameplans, and it certainly looks to be a fun game of mental chess between the final four teams left in the NBA playoffs.