Lhe NBA Playoffs are like that. The best in the first round, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, suffer. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, too. Let’s not say Suns, Mavericks, Heat or Sixers. And that is supposed to be the main names, those that would not surprise anyone if they were the champions after a seven-game final.
What seemed clear, after the ‘Game 4’ comes into doubt. Only the Memphis Grizzlies are one step lower, but everything else is maximum equality. Both in the score of the series, 2-2, and in the sensations. Sky-high game peaks, like Al Horford’s game or Stephen Curry’s fourth quarter, but at the moment of truth there is no ‘cruising speed’. In conclusion, it pays well to play fortune teller.
Milwaukee, Boston or Golden State do not finish taking off… Who is the favorite?
The reality of the NBA is that choosing a favorite will depend a lot on managing hot moments. That defense of Green or the ‘choral’ work of the Celtics in their own basket, Giannis in ‘MVP’ mode… Or on the other side, knowing if Luka Doncic can pull new tricks out of his sleeve. Because no, the Mavs don’t start on the first step… But looking at the rest of the teams, who says they can’t surprise?
The Celtics have lived ‘on the edge of the knife’ to stay alive in the series, the Warriors suffer severe disconnections and terrible nights from the triple despite winning, the Bucks lose a tremendous asset without Middleton or the Grizzlies live in ‘depression’ after Morant’s injury. The ‘Game 4’ opens the deck of possibilities and uncertainty. We insist: playing fortune teller is impossible.
Al Horford, like fine wine
If the Celtics are still alive in the conference semifinals it is thanks to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford in superstar mode. The Dominican interior does not weigh the years or the physique that a clash against Antetokounmpo’s Bucks demands. And she left a lesson in competitive heart and level.
It’s like good wine: with age it gets better. And he doesn’t seem intimidated. “Antetokounmpo gave me a dirty look and that changed my game,” she said at the end. It is, without a doubt, one of those rivalries that we all like for a Playoff series. The Celtics have heart and Horford even more so.
Draymond Green, the best of supervillains
You have to love him. Draymond Green only understands entertainment, in any of its aspects: on the dance floor ‘struggling’, or off it with some impertinence. He played the one that best defines him, that of being a defensive vitamin for some Warriors canceled from the triple. And he punished Jaren Jackson Jr. when the ball burned. Show.
It is to be expected that not all the parties of the Warriors have the same script, but with a Draymond Green like this, they present a candidacy for whatever they want. He can stop all the players in the world, without exception. And if he doesn’t stop them… He’ll drive them crazy.
The Night of the Dillon Brooks Disaster
The Grizzlies battled until that final possession by Jaren Jackson Jr., but ran into a miss on the game-winning shot. There they lost, but it was also given by the disaster perpetrated by Dillon Brooks. 5/19 shooting from the field… And that’s not even a star! Unthinkable.
Added to the lack that cost him the Playoffs to Gary Payton II, Brooks is on everyone’s lips. And his mistake is even celebrated by rivals like Klay Thompson. memphis he despairs and everyone who watches the NBA too. A little more intonation is the least expected.