Video by Charlie Riddle, Spencer Carle, and Justin Bian.

Article by Henry Hess.

The 2021-22 NBA season is winding down and there have been very competitive playoff games the last couple of weeks. 

Only 4 teams remain in the NBA Playoffs. 

The #2 Boston Celtics are playing the #1 Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Final. 

The #4 Dallas Mavericks are playing the #3 Golden State Warriors in the West. 

All four teams are very level and every game between them so far has been competitive. 

Currently the Golden State Warriors are playing to their Championship standards when they get into the playoffs. They are beating the Mavericks 3-1 in the series and are favorites to win the West. 

In the East, everything is close between the Heat and the Celtics, but the Celtics lead 3-2. Jayson Tatum and the defensively sound Celtics have made a comeback twice in the series to win Game 2 and 4. 

Beyond what’s immediately on the line, there is quite a bit of history behind these 4 teams in the semi-finals of the playoffs as well. 

Golden State has always been led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but now has support from Andrew Higgins and Jordan Poole. Wiggins and Poole have been a great addition to Goldman State’s relentless shooting.

 Golden State is known to make a run and win the Championship in the recent past. 

They won in 2015, 2017 and 2018. 

The Mavericks have been an unexpected story this year as they beat the #1 Phoenix Suns to eventually play the Warriors. In the past, led by the German legend Dirk Nowitzski the Mavericks are now led by another European star, Luka Doncic. 

Luka Doncic is currently playing in his first Western Conference Final and it hasn’t been easy going up against the dynamic sharpshooting Warrior team. 

The Celtics have the most NBA Championships at 17 and have history with the Heat during the Big 3 Era. 

The Celtics and the Heat led by Lebron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade were always battling for the Eastern Conference Championship during the early 2010’s. 

The Western Conference Final could be over in one game but the Eastern Conference Final could be going all the way to Game 7. 

Jesuit students have been following the NBA Playoffs even as the Trail Blazers had a historically bad season recording at 27-55. 

Senior Jonathan Hotchkiss is an avid watcher of the NBA and is excited to watch the Finals. 

“As a Blazer fan, it was rough watching them lose almost every game towards the end of the season. I like the new play-in tournament format though and all the games that happened were very entertaining and it’s fun watching a 10-seed like the Pelicans battle to make it into the playoffs. The regular season seemed to fly by but with how close all the records were, it made the last couple weeks super interesting,” Senior Jonathan Hotchkiss said. 

Being a Trail Blazers fan, Hotchkiss favors a team in the East. 

“If Boston manages to beat Miami, I think they have the best chance of winning. I feel like they match up best against the Warriors. I expect the Warriors to beat Dallas and wouldn’t be surprised if they end up winning the championship though,” Hotchkiss added. 

As Warriors being favorites in the West, it will be interesting how the East shapes up. 

Whoever will be in the Finals, it will be competitive and one to remember. 

The NBA finals start Thursday, June 2.