WCF and ECF Back and Forth, Tied 2-2.... Right

#1 Denver Nuggets vs #7 LA Lakers

This series was suppose to be redemption for The King. Back to the glory days for the 40-year-old. Nobody told The Joker that. In game one, the hype was REAL. The Nuggets came out on fire. The Joker took control of the game, by halftime, it seemed like the game was over. The Nuggets were up 72-54 as Nikola Jokic “The Joker” was wheeling and dealing for Denver. He passed the ball all over the floor and made Anthony Davis look lost while he was playing him on defense. In the second half, head coach Darvin Ham made an adjustment. He moved to a more zone look and allowed AD to roam the paint and protect the rim. The Lakers really got the offense going, especially for Anthony Davis and Austin Reeves. The Lakers climbed all the way back to cut it within three. This was the King’s moment to steal game one. They got him the ball, he pulled up from three. CLANK. Off the rim. The Joker secured the rebound and dribbled the ball out for a game one victory, 132-126. Jokic had 34 points, 21 rebounds, and 14 assists. The rest of the starters scored in the double digits, with Jamal Murray having 31 points. Anthony Davis had 41 to lead all scorers. Even though Lebron missed the game winner, he ended up with 26. They also had a great contribution from Austin Reeves who had 23. They also had In game two, The King looked for his revenge. Except you can tell Lebron was getting older. In a defensive battle, Anthony Davis tried his best to slow Nikola down, which he somewhat succeeded. Jamal Murray was absent for the Nuggets through three quarters. Someone must have gave him the sharpshooter perk at intermission, because after the third, there was no stopping him. Jamal would CARRY the Nuggets with 23 fourth quarter points. The Lakers held their own, and came within three again. This time, it wasn’t The King who shot the game-tying shot, it was Anthony Davis. The ball went up from three, CLANK. Another unfortunate break for the Lakers. Lebron scored 22, but went 0-6 from three and missed a wide open dunk that was a catastrophic reel all over the internet. Anthony Davis also had 22, and Rui Hachimura had 21 off the bench. Jamal Murray lead all scored with 37 points and had help from his partner-in-crime The Joker who had 23 points and 17 rebounds. With the series 2-0 in the Nuggets favor, the teams headed to LA, where the Lakers looked to take home-field advantage and tie the series up. As game 3 progressed, Jamal Murray couldn’t be stopped. It was watching poetry in motion. Murray ended up with 30 points in the first half to give the Nuggets the lead. In the second half, every time you thought the Lakers would break even or take the lead, the Nuggets had an answer. The Nuggets held the Lakers in a strangle hold on defense, and had their way on offense. Jamal Murray ended up with 37 points. The Nuggets had some great support from their role players as Michael Porter Jr. had 14 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 17. The Lakers squad had some good scoring of their own. Anthony Davis had 28 points, Lebron and Austin Reeves both had 23. The Lakers need more help. Guys like D’Angelo Russell need to step up. The Nuggets take a commanding 3-0 series lead. In game 4, I was expecting the Lakers to dominate. No way Lebron gets swept. The Lakers came out scorching hot in the first half. With three seconds left, we say the Lakers up big. Lebron, with still seconds left on the clock, walked to the locker room. Without his team. Without his coach. With time still left to play. That’s pretty selfish. I get it, series isn’t going your way, but guess what Lebron, it’s because you and AD haven’t stepped up. Jamal stepped it up when he needed too and now they’re dominating. Of course, the Nuggets climb back into the game and end up beating the Lakers 113-111. Lebron and the Lakers let the game slip away. Joker had 30 and Jamal had 25. Lebron had 40, but he wasn’t able to stop Joker from sweeping him.

#2 Boston Celtics vs. #8 Miami Heat

This was supposed to be a sweep. At the beginning of the series, the Celtics had a 97% chance of winning this series. 97 PERCENT. As an active sports watcher like myself, I had the Celtics winning too. Nobody mentioned this to the man that needs no introduction on this website. Himmy Buckets obviously heard the chances everyone was giving them and he simply did not care. In game one, the game was highly competitive. Jason Tatum continued his hot streak he had in game 7 of the second round against the 76ers. The Celtics were up 9 at halftime. The weird thing about the Heat is they always seem to stick around. They never fell completely out of the game, and quietly made shots to make the game closer. Mr. Himmy demonstrated why he was the best player on the floor. In the third quarter, he took over. By the end of the quarter, the game had completely flipped on the Celtics as the Heat now lead by 8. Again, we see the Celtics choke a lead and they could never recover from the devastating third quarter. Outscoring the Celtics 46 to 25 in the third, allowed the Heat to cruise to the victory. The Heat beat the Celtics 123-116 thanks to the 35-point show Himmy Buckets displayed in TD Garden. Bam Adebayo had 20 and multiple role players scored in the double digits. Jason Tatum did have 30 points, but one of the best defenses in the league couldn’t figure out how to stop the scorching-hot Heat team. The Heat stole game one, making game two, vital for the Celtics. For most of game two, the Celtics were in control. They passed the ball around, played stifling defense, and slowed the Heat offense down. With six minutes left in the game, Mr. Grant Williams did something so STUPID that it completely changed the game. Grant Williams started TRASH TALKING THE GUY WHO HAS BEEN THE MOST IMPRESSIVE THESE ENTIRE PLAYOFFS!!! I mean how STUPID ARE YOU??? You don’t go up to Lebron when you’re winning and start talking trash. You wouldn’t go up to Kobe Bryant and start talking trash. You especially wouldn’t talk trash around Michael Jordan. When someone is shooting that well the entire playoffs, WHY GIVE HIM ANY MOTIVATION TO DESTROY YOU?!!! Grant gets in Jimmy’s face as the Celtics lead late in the fourth. Like Mike would say “I took that personally”, Mr. Buckets took over. He went at Williams when he had the ball and made shot after shot over him. With the game slipping away from the Celtics, they try everything to score. Only they have no idea whom to give the ball to in the clutch. Jalen Brown didn’t score any points since Williams went and started blowing smoke at Jimmy, Tatum continued to struggle with scoring and not turning the ball over. They even gave GRANT WILLIAMS A CHANCE. GUESS WHAT?? HE SUCKED TOO! When the Celtics found themselves trailing late in the fourth, they couldn’t get a rebound as Bam Bam skated around the Celtics for a putback dunk for a five-point lead. The refs tried to let the Celtics get back in the game with free throws, but Gabe Vincent shut the lights out with a deep jumper to seal the 111-105 victory. Jimmy of course led the scoring for the Heat with 27, but Caleb Martin, a Nevada Wolfpack native, and undrafted pick-up by the Heat had 25. Bam had 22 and 17 rebounds. Jason Tatum had 34, but his shooting performance in the clutch demonstrated the same issues he had last year in the finals. With a 2-0 series lead going back to Miami, people still had Boston winning the series. All of that was put to rest in game three. There isn’t much to say about game three. The Celtics found themselves down a ton all game and GAVE UP in the third. The Heat role players such as Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and Duncan Robinson all had incredible performances. Jimmy played well, but didn’t need to carry the team with the absolute BEAT DOWN the Heat gave the Celtics. The Heat won 128-102 to take a 3-0 series lead. No team has ever come back from being down 3-0. We might see a sweep, just not the team we thought it was going to be. In game 4 the Celtics showed a little pride. In a pretty boring game, JT had 33 on a mediocre shooting night. The rest of the starters had double digit points. Is it really going to matter? Like, it’s Senor Himmy Buckets having to win one game. The sweep would’ve been nice, but oh well. The series goes back to Boston. I’m not sure if the series will be over tomorrow or in Game 6, but I doubt it goes any further than that. I think JT gets one more win in game 5, but Himmy stops him in his tracks in game 6.