The first Semifinals matchup is now set.
The above chart is as of this morning. The 76ers, Hawks and Jazz all lead in their series 3-1 nd could move on with a win tonight. The Mavs and Clippers are playing to see who will get the 3-2 lead in their series as well.
Meanwhile, the Blazers and Lakers are both 1 loss away from elimination. The Lakers having two chances to avoid elimination is the bigger story simply because of LeBron James, who has never lost a first round series before. Like the Celtics, the Lakers had to participate in the Play-In Tournament just to get Seeded. We will find out tomorrow if they join the Celtics in a first round exit and if it does happen, there will be a new NBA Champion this year.
If the Lakers are eliminated, six of the remaining teams have never won a championship (Nets, Jazz, Suns, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Clippers). The Wizards, Hawks, Blazers, Bucks and Mavs have all won one title each before. The Knicks have won two titles while the 76ers have one three. Out of all those teams, the Mavs won their only title back in 2013. For the rest, it’s been decades.
The Jazz did make it to the NBA Finals in back to back years (1997 and 1998) but lost to Michael Jordan’s Bulls both times. The Suns (1993) and Blazers (1991 and 1992) also fell to Michael Jordan earlier in the decade. The 76ers haven’t been to the NBA Finals since Allen Iverson played 20 years ago.
We will have to wait and see how things turn out moving forward but with so many teams that either never won a championship or haven’t won one since I was born (I’m 37), this playoff series is sure to be interesting.
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Aurabolt's Sports Talk 