Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

NBA Playoff Preview

 The NBA playoffs began this April with some teams’ seasons coming to an end while others still have hope of lifting the NBA Finals trophy.  The playoffs take the top eight teams from each conference, the West and the East.  

The West was topped by the Golden State Warriors who broke the record for the best all time single season win-loss record in the NBA.  They broke the 95-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72-10.  This record has been seen as untouchable before this year.  Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs slipped under the Warrior’s spotlight and claimed the NBA’s fourth best all time single season win-loss record, also securing second in the West.  The rest of the top seeds in the West were rounded out by the two headed dragon that is Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City, and the Los Angeles Clippers coached by former champion Doc River.  The lower four seeds were all on the “Bubble” knocking the Utah Jazz into 9th and out of playoff contention.

The East was less top heavy and more well rounded with the gap between the first seed to the last seed being 13 games compared to the West’s 32.  Despite the small gap, Cleveland and Toronto were always ahead of the pack with Cleveland finishing first 1 game ahead of the Raptors.  Cleveland is expected to cruise through to the Eastern Conference Finals lead by Lebron James.  However, all of the other matches are expected to be highly contested and close series.  With matches of Indiana vs Toronto and Miami vs Charlotte highlighting the conference.