2024 NBA Playoff Update
2024 NBA Playoff Update
Well, the Celtics are in the NBA Finals. This was not a surprise. Many people predicted that they would get there, including me.
That said, what was a surprise was how quickly and seemingly easily they dispatched with the Indiana Pacers. True, they struggled a bit in the final three games, needing to rally to win each time. Yet, they did it successfully each time, as well.
As for the Pacers, they enjoyed success this season, obviously. This is something which they can build on, despite the disappointing end, without a win in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Still, it also should serve as a source of concern, the fact that they kept having leads and then allowing the Celtics to take over the game right in the final minutes like that. So it feels like a mixture of good promise for the future, as well as material with which to specifically try and improve upon.
Anyway, a surprisingly one-sided series goes to Boston. The Celtics now await the winner of the Dallas-Minnesota series.
Western Conference Finals - Timberwolves Finally Win a Game
Minnesota finally won a game, managing to avoid the fate of the Indiana Pacers in the East, who got swept aside by Boston.
Having dropped the first three games to the Mavericks, the T-Wolves finally managed to produce a win in Dallas in Game 4.
Nor is that just some largely meaningless win delaying the inevitable. It means that the Timberwolves next get to host Game 5 in Minnesota. Home court advantage could help, and if they take advantage, it suddenly looks like a much tighter and more competitive series than the 0-3 start would suggest.
That said, no team in NBA history has ever come back from an 0-3 series deficit. In fact, this has only been done five times in other sports. It happened four times in the NHL, and once in MLB.
So while the Timberwolves finally looked good in producing a win on the road, they have their work cut out for them. They would need to make history that no other team in NBA history has managed to do. And there is obviously no margin for error. Any kind of a slip, any kind of bad game, will prove costly. After all, they are facing elimination from here on out in this series. They managed to stave off elimination once, but can they really do it three times?
We shall see.
At least it feels like they are making it interesting.
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