By Mackenzie Schiltz

The NBA playoffs is arguably the most anticipated event of the basketball season. Starting in October, pregame season starts, where each team plays roughly three to five games to begin the six month long season of basketball. Almost every other day, with a bye week or two, all thirty teams in the NBA play a game. Whether they win or lose that game, their stats are affected, and by the end of the season, whoever has won the most games is seated at the number one spot. It decreases from there. 

Playoffs start in the middle of April. This year, the first round of games starts April 19. As of the beginning of March, the Cavaliers are the reigning champs of the Eastern conference, winning a total of fifty games and only losing ten. The Celtics are trailing close in second. In the Western conference, Oklahoma City’s Thunder are leading the way winning fifty of sixty one games. The Lakers are a distance away in second, where they have only won thirty eight games. The top teams of the NBA currently are all challenged, but who will prevail all in the end?

I have asked three students here at HSPS about their opinions on the playoffs. Let’s just say, they would not be rooting for the same teams at a game together. They all had different ideas of what teams should make the playoffs and potentially finals, what teams they would want to play in playoffs or finals, and what adjustments they would need to make, to reach this goal.

My first question was, “Who are you rooting for to win the NBA playoffs this season?” Emma said, “I am rooting for the Boston Celtics because I enjoy watching Jayson Tatum play.” George stated, “I want the Mav’s to win.” Christian said, “I’m rooting for the Warriors.” In my opinion, wanting the Celtics and Warriors to win is reasonable because if you live in Sacramento, you are usually either a Warriors fan or a Kings fan, so knowing a Warriors fan does not come as a shock to me. Being a fan of the Celtics is also not unusual because they have fans across the globe. They even won the NBA finals last season. The Mav’s on the other hand is a complete wild card. Sorry George. 

My second question was who they believe will win, bias aside. While Emma thinks the Lakers will win, George thinks the Celtics will win and Christian thinks the Cavaliers will win. I then asked why they think this is. Emma said, “They’re doing really well and their players are reflecting great stats.” George said, “They’re second ranked in the NBA right now.” Christian said, “They have the best record in the NBA right now.”

My fourth question was , “If your favored team were to make it to finals, what adjustments would they need to make in order to win?” Emma stated, “The Lakers need to work on their offense and pick up the pace. I feel like they aren’t trying as hard as they did last year and all of these trades are affecting them.” George said, “They would need to get a better roster and a better starting five.” Christian is confident in his team and he said, “Get Curry open.”

My fifth and final question was “What matchups do you want to see in the NBA playoffs and finals?” Emma said, “I want to see the Lakers and Celtics play each other because it is like an all time rivalry and I want to see the Cavaliers play OKC because they are both doing really well and I think they would challenge each other. George stated, “Mavs vs. Cavs and Spurs vs Mavs because I love the Mavs and the Cavs are doing well. I want to see the Spurs and Mavs because I like a lot of the players on the Spurs, but especially Harrison Barnes.” Christian said, “I want to see the Warriors play the Bucks.”

All in all, the NBA playoffs are just around the corner and I think it’s safe to say that the students here at HSPS don’t agree on who should win the playoffs. If someone were to question me, I would say I want the Kings to win, but I am confident that the Cavs and Celtics will face off. Who are you rooting for in the NBA playoffs?