Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

Whoever said the bubble wasn’t real basketball is kicking themselves right now because we’re back. The LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are on to the conference finals and in about two weeks time two will emerge to play for the NBA championship.

The Lakers took down the dynasty Warriors in six games, the Nuggets beat the Suns sending Phoenix into turmoil and Monty Williams getting fired, the Celtics dominated the Sixers in game 7 and the Heat showed they weren’t going to let Jalen Brunson continue to keep the Knicks alive and stomped their way to the ECF.

Let’s start with the Lakers. Anthony Davis, my lord. This man has been playing with an intensity in the playoffs that we haven’t seen from him but were all awaiting, and it did wonders for the Lakers. Their series against the Grizzlies was decided by AD’s ability to completely take the paint away from Memphis on both sides of the ball, and against the Warriors he was just as unstoppable. His size meant there were very few on the small Warriors roster that could keep him contained, and his scoring showed when it mattered most.

The emergence of Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Schroder throughout the series helped the Lakers push their way through tight games and overall the lack of depth on the Golden State side put a little too much pressure on Steph, giving LA the edge and the victory in the series.

Moving to the other team in the west, the Denver Nuggets are looking like the best team remaining right now and they are going to be a tough matchup for the Lakers. Just the matchup between Anthony Davis and Jokic alone makes this series must-watch TV. I expect a ridiculous stat line from one of these two players during the series but in my opinion the x factor is D’Angelo Russell. We’ve seen Russell catch fire at numerous points throughout the Lakers playoff run and going against the scoring of Jamal Murray, he will need to be the added piece to the Lakers depth that has different players step up at different times.

Alongside fan favourite Austin Reaves, the Lakers offence usually features the main contributors in James and Davis along with either one of Hachimura, Russell or Schroder, and the more they can get against the efficient and effective Nuggets will obviously favour them.

In the east, the Celtics went into game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, the game was close for the first half, then Jayson Tatum decided it was no longer going to be so. Masterclass from the Celtics staple and All-Star. When he gets going like he did in game 7 with his 51 points, it is something you cannot take your eyes off of. his unique combination of length, agility and range scoring makes him one of the best scorers this league currently has, and he showed all of it pushing the Celtics back to the conference finals.

Against the rebounding of the MVP Joel Embiid, Al Horford stood his ground and got his team possessions, and against the scoring prowess of James Harden, Jayson Tatum showed up and showed out. The game got ugly really quick once the third quarter started, but if there’s a takeaway, as long as Tatum, Brown and Smart are on that floor for the Celtics, you can never count them out of any series or any position.

Their opponent is Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and the Miami Heat. Going into their matchup against the New York Knicks, I thought they were going to win easily, and despite some heroics from Brunson, it never felt like the series was at all out of control for Miami. Bam Adebayo stepped up when needed to control Julius Randle and win the battle on the glass, Lowry was his usual self drawing odd looking charges and making threes, and Jimmy Butler was still Jimmy Butler as he’s been all playoffs. The best way I could describe this is the Heat took care of business and told a young Knicks squad that it isn’t their time yet, and just like the bubble conference finals, the Heat will see the Celtics for a spot in the championship.

Outside of upsets provided by Miami and the Lakers, I think these playoffs have went how people would expect them to go if a person was given the bracket to predict at the beginning. The top team in Denver is still the top team, the 2nd best team in the East in the Celtics are back in the conference finals, and we have two underdogs in the Miami Heat and Lakers who had to scratch and claw their way here. However the conference finals goes, I am definitely ready for one of these four teams to hoist the trophy, now we just have to find out who that is.