The moment we’ve been waiting for all season has arrived. The 2019 NBA postseason is here and there is already some intriguing matchups set in stone in both conferences. It was a little bit of a frenzy with teams fighting to get in, especially in the Eastern Conference, with the Charlotte Hornets, and Miami HEAT missing out on the last day of the season. On the Western Conference side, all eight teams were established for a while, but the seeding was finally determined tonight.
As you can see from the bracket, the Indiana Pacers moved down from third in the East to fifth and will face the Boston Celtics in a potential upset for the C’s, considering they won’t have Marcus Smart for at least two rounds. Not to mention their dysfunction.
The Houston Rockets also moved down in the standings, locking in that No. 4 seed, which will have them face the Golden State Warriors before the Western Conference Finals like last season.
The Utah Jazz in the first round are no pushovers, though.
Staying in the West, the Portland Trail Blazers sealed the three seed for a second consecutive year but will face the daunting matchup of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who can scare any team in the conference in any round, regardless of where they ended up. Will the Blazers go out like last season? For as strong as they’ve looked this year, they don’t have Jusuf Nurkic, though that Enes Kanter pickup was huge.
As well all can assume, Dub Nation will win the championship again, but will any team in the West give them a run for their money this year? Can the Philadelphia 76ers come out victorious in the East with the help of Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler? Can the Milwaukee Bucks continue their solid run this regular season and make it to the conference finals?
There are so many questions and story lines headed into the NBA Playoffs and we’re here to watch it all unfold. Are you ready?