The NBA playoffs are upon us and through the first round there has been shocks and upsets galore. Through four rounds only one sweep happened as the 76ers swept away the Brooklyn Nets playoff dreams.

   The playoffs have been a tale of two stories: domination and upsets. Some of the underdogs that have stunned high seeds include: Knicks, Lakers, Heat and the Warriors. Out of all eight series only one was taken to a game seven, the Warriors and Kings. 

    “The Miami Heat are showing that one player (it’s Jimmy Butler!) can elevate a decent team to excellence all by themselves, just by outplaying everyone else on the court. Giannis wasn’t himself in this series, and he needed to be to overcome Jimmy Butler’s transcendent play,”  NBA analyst Mark Barrigton said according to Pounding the Rock News.

   The battle of the young talents and the playoff veterans came down to a showdown in the City of Arches. This showdown was a fierce battle as the Kings developed a two point lead at halftime. However the veteran Warriors showed their experience in the second half as 33 year old Draymond Green and 35 year old Stephen Curry dominated the contest as they won 120-100. Curry led the team with a dominant 50 points, the Warriors will face Lebron and the Lakers in the conference semifinals.

   “This is a Game 7 I’ll forever remember as The Steph Curry Game,” Curry’s teammate Clay Thompson said to a NBA reporter.

   Local Cavalier fans were severely disappointed as their series with the New York Knicks was pretty much a no contest for the young kids from Cleveland. The Knicks moved on to face the red hot Miami Heat in an east coast battle. The Knicks made quick work of the Cavs, they won the series 4-1 as star player Jalen Brunson led the way in scoring for New York. The Berlin fan base consists of majority Cleveland fans who have high expectations for their team after a great season finishing 4th in the east. However their immaturity left many bears disappointed.

   “I’m very sad the Cavs lost against the Knicks. We just couldn’t shoot at all the whole round,” Berlin student Andrew Osterholt said.

   The Lakers and Grizzlies showdown was epic and filled with tension and controversy. This series and matchup was brewed for years as an upcoming Memphis team talked a lot and have had plenty of heated interactions with the Lakers and Lebron. Ja Morant was asked if he wanted to get traded to the east because of a west conference stacked with talent and he famously said that he is “Fine in the west”. Dillon Brooks has also commented on James’s age and how his  talent has faded. After a 40 point blowout to win 4-2 the Lakers got the final laugh as the Grizzlies took a plane back to Memphis.

   “If you ever see me fighting in the forest with a Grizzly bear, HELP THE BEAR,” James said in a recent Instagram post.

   In the rest of the playoffs there will be more controversy and upsets as that is the nature of the NBA playoffs.