April, 2023
By Darren Dukes, Staff Reporter
The National Basketball Association, or NBA for short, is an American basketball league that was founded in 1946. Currently there are 30 teams, 2 conferences with 15 teams in each conference, and 6 divisions with 5 teams in each division. The regular season lasts from October until April, with the playoffs beginning in April and ending in June with the NBA finals. The playoffs are structured with the top 8 seeded teams in each conference getting to compete for the championship. However, teams that finish from the 7- 10th seed have to play in the Play-In Tournament to compete for the 7th and 8 seeds. With the playoffs quickly approaching and less than 10 games left in the 82 game season, many teams are trying to scramble for as many wins as possible to try and make the Play-In.
In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers are attempting to make it into the play-in, and possibly even clinch the playoffs after starting off the season poorly at 2-10. The trade deadline in the NBA is around February and lots of teams made very impactful trades. The Brooklyn Nets in the eastern conference let go of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and the main asset they got back was Mikal Bridges. He has been averaging almost 30 points a game since being traded and is keeping the Nets’ head above water at the 6th seed and out of the play-in. Other teams like the Dallas Mavericks have gotten worse since getting Kyrie Irving to pair up with Luka Doncic at the trade deadline. With only 3 games left they are at the 11th seed which is below the play-in which means that they would have to win every game in order to even have a chance at the play-in.
The Golden State Warriors, the previous champs in 2022 have been an up-and-down team. They are very good when they play at home in San Francisco, however, they can’t seem to get any road wins. They are 32-8 at home and 9-30 away. Something just collapses when they go into an opponent’s arena. The Sacramento Kings, who are currently the 3rd seed in the west have just shocked the NBA world and clinched their first playoffs since 2006. They have two all-star players and their team runs a productive offense. Their starting point Guard De’Aaron Fox leads the league in 4th quarter points, and their starting center Domantas Sabonis leads the league in double-doubles, which means at least having double digits in at least two categories: points, rebounds, assists etc.
Heavily favored teams to win the 2023 NBA finals such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets are cruising comfortably along the top 3 seeds in their conference. The top 3 MVP candidates for the season are Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Giannis Antetokoumnpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. Nikola Jokic, having already won back-to-back MVPs, is expected to make a deep playoff run. He is expected to make at least the NBA Finals, especially if he gets his 3rd straight MVP, in order to make his awards seem more legitimate and solidified. Joel Embiid, who is the NBA’s leading scorer, is on a mission to win MVP after feeling like he was snubbed by Jokic last year. He has been dominating every opponent he faces. Giannis Antetokoumnpo, who has been dominating for the last half decade is pushing for his 3rd MVP after winning back-to-back in 2019 and 2020.
Kevin Durant, former Brooklyn Net, joining the Phoenix Suns after requesting a trade has shaken up the western conference tremendously. The Suns are undefeated when Durant plays. This could be the first time Kevin Durant and LeBron James have played each other in the playoffs since 2018. This is a very anticipated playoffs and should be very entertaining to watch.
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