The play-in tournament is a new addition to the NBA Playoffs that gives more teams a chance to compete for the Finals; before the play-in tournament, the top eight teams competed to gain entry.  Although with the play-in games, the seven, eight, nine, and ten-seed teams play each other in a tournament to get a pass to the playoffs.

With the arrival of the NBA Playoffs, many unfamiliar teams and players are dominating the competition, including famous faces such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant whose teams were eliminated in the first round or in the regular season. Furthermore, teams such as the Thunder, Nuggets, Knicks, and Celtics, all being led by young, new stars, have been sweeping opponents in their first series that is sending favorite superstars back to their homes.

In the second round in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder matched up with the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves matched up with the Denver Nuggets. In the Eastern Conference, The Boston Celtics matched up with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers matched up with New York Knicks.

In the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs, the Timberwolves upset the Nuggets in a seven-game series behind their star point guard Anthony Edwards. In fact, many people have began to compare Edwards to Michael Jordan, one of the greatest players of all time, as his play is similar to Jordan and Illustrates his game after Jordan. 

In the Conference Finals, the Mavericks and Timberwolves matched up in the West and the Celtics and Pacers in the East.

“Anthony Edwards is looking like he’s going to be one of the greats in the league, and this year’s playoffs have been one of the most entertaining I’ve seen,” junior Kris Katabian said.

Many students at the school enjoy keeping up with the playoffs and love rooting for their favorite team.