We had the Wild West, now it's time for the East to get the Spotlight!!!

Dude…

The article you all have been waiting for!! Ok, maybe not. I’m still going to give you the recap of the Eastern Conference second round anyway. As we saw in the previous post (if you haven’t checked that out I highly recommend it since it’s an incredible read and I spent a shit ton of time on it) the Nuggets and the Lakers will play each other in the Western Conference Finals. Now, we have the Eastern Conference to go over. Did Himmy Buckets and the Heat handle Jalen Brunson and the Knicks? Did James Harden finally beat THE Jason Tatum and the Celtics? Here’s where you find out from your favorite average fan who likes to watch sports, drink beer, and write articles about those sports. Here is my recap of the Eastern Conference second round.

#4 NY Knicks vs. #8 Miami Heat

If you don’t know who Himmy Buckets is, it’s Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. He’s called Himmy Buckets by yours truly based on the fact that he is exactly that. Jimmy is HIM. He is. End of story. Why is he him? Because he gets buckets for the Heat and it never seems like teams can slow him down. The Knicks were out to prove they could stop him and move on to the second round. In game 1, Madison Square Garden took center stage as the Heat traveled to New York. The Knicks started off on fire scoring 32 points in the first quarter. The Heat continued to chip away at the lead until it was back and forth coming down the wire. Of course, Julius Randle was hurt and didn’t play. RJ Barrett took on the role of game-changer and posted a game-high 26 points. Jalen Brunson scored 25 but went 0-7 from three. Obi Toppin also had a good game scoring 18. However, I think the Knicks forgot about Mr. Himmy himself could win the game for the Heat. Late in the 4th, Jimmy came down hard and looked to tweak his ankle. He looked coach Eric Spoelstra dead in the face and said “You’re not taking me out”. Himmy ended up with 25 points with Gabe Vincent also contributing 20 points of his own. Kyle Lowery led the second squad and ended up with 18 points of his own off the bench. This is the difference between these two teams. Randle uses his injuries as a decoy and sits out of games. Himmy looks at injuries square in the eyes and gives them the middle finger. Himmy doesn’t care. He’s there to win. The Heat stole game 1 and win 108-101. In game 2, Jimmy was sidelined by an ankle injury. Not his decision but they had already stolen one game and wanted Jimmy healthy for games 3 and 4 at home. Without Jimmy, you would expect the Knicks to dominate. Only they didn’t. Sure, Jalen Brunson had 30 points, Julius Randle had 25, and RJ Barrett had 25. However, Caleb Martin took over Jimmy’s starting role and had 22 points. Gabe Vincent showed up again and had 21. The Knicks SCRAPPED by the Heat in game 2, winning 111-105. As Randle and Brunson celebrated with their reactions to the crowd, Himmy Buckets sat on the bench and smiled. He knew they had scrapped by without him, and there was no way they were beating them with him on the floor. As game 3 came back to South Beach, the Heat was all business. The ANNIHILATED THE KNICKS IN GAME 3! It wasn’t even close. Himmy came back to lead all scorers with 28 and got good contributions from Bam Adebayo with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and 19 points from Max Strus. The Knicks as a team shot 34% from the field. Jalen Brunson ended up with 20 points but went 7-20 from the field. His counterpart, Julius Randle, had 10 points. 10 POINTS!!! Are you kidding me??!! The Heat EMBARRASS the Knick and win 105-86. In game 4, it was much more competitive. The Heat took the lead going into halftime, but the Knick slowly chipped away at the lead. Jalen Brunson ended up leading all scorers with 32, and had some help from RJ Barret who had 24, and Julius Randle, who got his head out of his ass, scored 20. The Heat also had a great game from THE MAN Himmy Buckets who had 27 points and 10 assists. He also had great contributions from Bam Adebayo who had 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Max Strus had 16 points. The biggest factor was the bench contribution from the Heat. Caleb Martin gave them 10 points and Kyle Lowery gave them 15 off the bench. This bench helped allowed the Heat to win 109-101 and give the Heat a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. The rest goes as follows. The Knicks win game 5 thanks to Jalen Brunson’s 38 points. In game 6, Jalen demonstrated why he should be paid as much as he is with 41 points, but with no help from Randle, who went 3-14 and 1-7 from three. The Heat edged out the Knicks thanks to Himmy’s 24 points, and Bam Adebayo who had 23 points. Major contributions from Max Strus and Kyle Lowery push the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 96-92 victory. Don’t worry New York, you have a star in Jalen Brunson, but Julius Randle has got to go or there will be anarchy in NY. The keys to the Heat finishing it’s run come down to if Himmy Buckets can still be him. He needs help from Bam Adebayo and company, but if Himmy doesn’t play well, they’re doomed for sure.

#2 Boston Celtics vs #3 Philadelphia 76ers

This was the only series to go to 7 games, and it needed all of them. Before I begin, I want to apologize to Jason Tatum for doubting him. I heard what other people were saying at the beginning of this series and I lost faith. I promise you, I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!! In game 1, the 76ers were without MVP Joel Embiid. As expected, I thought the Celtics were gonna steamroll the 76ers. This is why I don’t call myself an expert. I don’t know what I’m talking about and I’ll never claim to be an expert. I’m just a dude who likes sports. That’s all. James Harden reminded me of how big of an idiot I can be when I doubt someone. Harden took over this game. No one could stop him and he couldn’t miss. Harden ended up with 45 points and got some major help as 3 of the other 4 starters scored in double digits (really PJ Tucker, not one field goal attempt in 37 mins??!) It didn’t matter PJ didn’t score because De’Anthony Melton scored 17 points off the bench. Jason Tatum also didn’t disappoint as he had 39. Jalen Brown had 23, and they had a nice contribution from the sixth man of the year, Malcolm Brogdon who had 20. The 76ers make themselves the third team out of four to steal game 1 on the road. The Celtics weren’t going to lose game 2. Not at the Garden. Jalen Brown lead all scorers with 25 points. Malcolm Brogdon had 23, Marcus Smart and Derrick White had decent games with 15 points a piece. This is where my Jason Tatum isn’t as good as everyone thinks he is, started to develop in my not-so-smart brain. Tatum ended up with 7 points, going 1-7 from the field. YOUR BEST PLAYER ONLY SHOT THE BALL 7 TIMES???? What the hell? Tatum seemed to be going through the motions. It didn’t matter as the 76ers were AWFUL. They shot 39% from the field and their leading scorer was Tobias Harris with 16 points. The MVP came back but only had 15 points, and James Harden also played like crap with 13 points. The Celtis dismantle the 76ers and win 121-87. The series was tied going into the city of brotherly love. Game 3 was an instant classic. Boston took the lead at the half, but Joel Embiid and company climbed their way back into the game. However, as the game went on, the 76ers couldn’t close the gap. Joel Embiid ended up with 30 points and got a good contribution off the bench from Melton with 14. James Harden had 16 points but he went 3-14. They need more from him. Tatum had 27 points but shot awful from the floor. The Celtics won this game thanks to the rest of the group as Jalen Brown had 23 and the rest of the starters scored double-figures. Malcolm Brogdon had 15 off the bench. In game 4, James Harden decided to show up. The game was back and forth and could’ve gone either way. James Harden reminded us who he was and hit the game-winner with a 116-115 victory to even the series up again. Heading back to Boston, the 76ers hadn’t won a game 5 in forever. They marched into Madison Square Garden and took game 5 away from the Celtics as they pummeled them 115-103 as Joel Embiid had 33 points and Tyrese Maxey had 30. Game 6 was supposed to be the close-out game. Nobody told the Celtics that. Marcus Smart led the way with 22 points, Jason Tatum had 19, and Jalen Brown had 17. The series was tied going back into MSG. Everyone thought this game was going to be an old-school western-style duel where it would come down to a last-second dagger to send someone to face the Goliath defeating Heat. We didn’t get that. This is where my apology comes in. Jason, I’m sorry. Tatum went off for 51. Doc Rivers could not figure out how to stop him. The Celtics EMBARRASSED the 76ers with a 112-88 win. Let’s just say Doc Rivers is no longer the head coach for the 76ers.

So it comes down to a good ole classic David vs. Goliath matchup. Himmy Buckets and the 8-seed Miami Heat take on the star-studded, everyone's favorite, men in green, Boston Celtics. Will Jason Tatum continue to show this poor writer how big of an idiot he is? Or will lightning will a third time and send Himmy to the finals? I cannot go against Jason Tatum again. I just can’t. I think the Celtics will win in 6.