Ikhlas Patel
In spite of the unique conditions within the bubble, there was still one goal. To win the NBA championship. The players had to win the NBA championship. By July 30, it was the first game. The commissioner of the league, Adam Silver, set it up so that there would be 8 games for each of the 22 teams that would form the bubble. The first game started off between the Los Angeles Lakers vs the Los Angeles Clippers. What a game to start! Sports experts and analysts were expecting this to be the Western Conference finals game. The Lakers ended up winning the game 103 – 101. For their first game back, both Lebron and Anthony Davis put up big numbers by scoring 30 each.
As quickly as the bubble had started, the NBA playoffs started. From the 22 teams, 16 had made it through. Now it was time to take all the preparation and use it in the games. The first matchups were Lakers vs Portland, Rockets vs OKC, Denver vs Jazz, Clippers vs Mavericks, Bucks vs Magic, Heat vs Pacers, Celtics vs 76ers, and Raptors vs Nets.
There were many games to be seen and a lot of action in them. We will start with the West. First up were the Lakers vs Portland. Though on the score sheet it may have seemed even, come to the court, and it was very different. Right from the get-go, Lebron and Davis had a connection. They were putting up combined points like it was nothing. Though Portland did have Damian Lillard, otherwise known as Dame Time, they just couldn’t compare. The Lakers ended up winning the series 4-1 (first to 7).
The next game was the Rockets vs OKC. This was redemption for Russel Westbrook as well as Chris Paul. Prior to the original season, these two players were traded, and now, they were facing their former organization and teammates. With Harden hitting stepback 3’s you would think the Rockets would have swept. However, OKC hadn’t come this far to lose. They battled back from a 3-1 series deficit to make it 3-3. Sadly, in game 7, the Rockets just edged them out to win the series 4-3. This was very devastating for me as I was rooting for OKC, and my brother is a major Russel Westbrook fan.
Still, with many more games to be played, Denver vs Jazz played next. Although Jazz got the front foot in this battle, similar to the Rockets series, they went up 3-1. The Nuggets didn’t stop. They came back to tie the series 3-3. Everyone was excited to see how game 7 would play out. Back and forth it went. No team went up by more than 6. In the end, the Nuggets won the series, coming back from 3-1 to win 4 games in a row. They will be moving forward.
The last game in the west would be the Clippers vs the Mavericks. The Clippers had superstars like Kawhi Lenoard and Paul George. Paul George, making for a tight match between them and the Mavericks, who sported a roster which included the likes of Luka Donic and Kristaps Porzingis,” superstars like Luka Donic and Kristaps Porzingis. Due to many injuries, like Prozingis getting injured and missing 2 games, the Mavericks fell to the Clippers 4-2.
And with that, the first round of the Western Conference came to a close.
Now, the East conference. The top seeded Bucks went up against the Magic. It was definitely going to be a tough matchup for the Magic, but they had shown before that they had what it takes to play against the Bucks. Nonetheless, the Bucks held superior. In Game 5 though neither team came out. They decided to boycott the game in order to raise the issue of Jacob Blake and police brutality. The Bucks ended up winning the series 4-1 with big performances from Giannis and Middleton.
Next up was the Heat vs the Pacers. The Heat had quickly gotten a lot of attention from many reporters and fans.. They added to all the attention by sweeping the Pacers and winning the series 4-0. This was the rookie year for Tyler Herro, and it seems like he fits in. While getting starter minutes and finishing off tough baskets you could see he has a bright future ahead.
Celtics vs 76ers was next. The 76ers seemed to have a lot of promise going into this series, but any sign of it after the first 2 games was slim. Though the margins for the scores were small you could see them not communicating well and missing shots they would have usually made. The rest of the series wasn’t much better for them, and they ended up losing 4-0.
The last game for the Eastern Conference was between the Raptors and the Nets. The defending champs (Raptors) were trying to make an attempt to win an NBA championship back to back seasons. They came out showing like they could do it by beating the Nets by 10 points. I was shocked. Since Kawhi Lenoard had left them that season, I didn’t think they would be able to win. However, I was proven wrong when the Raptors sweeped the Nets to win the series.
At this point, it was the peak for the whole NBA organization. They were getting so much attention, and it was in such a unique environment. Like a lot of people I didn’t expect to be as good and entertaining as it was. It was very interesting to see how the rule of no fans affected the games and how you could hear what the players were saying to each other. As well as how they recover when they don’t have a game, and the special bond they created from being in the bubble. 4 games were left, to see who would be in the NBA Championship.
Western Conference first. Lakers vs Rockets was the first game. After barely beating OKC, many people were sure the Lakers would sweep, and from the first game of the series you would have not expected it. Was Lebron James tired? Was he too old for all this? Those questions were looming around after the Rockets beat the Lakers by 15 in order to take the series up 1-0. However, game 2 had a different ending. Big points from the Lakers bench gave them the win to even the series 1-1. The rest of the series went as expected, and the Lakers won the series 4-1. I guess Lebron wasn’t too tired or old for this. He was in it to win it.
The next game up was the Nuggets vs the Clippers. What a series. A familiar position came to be for the Nuggets when they went down 3-1 in the series. I was very disappointed. I liked players on the Nuggets , such as Micheal Porter and Nikola Jokic, and I was disappointed that they were down again.. Out of shock, they turned my frown upside down. They won the series 4-3. You heard me right! They came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series again. On top of that, in game 7, the Clippers’s two biggest stars,PG and Kawhi, didn’t score a single point in the 4th quarter. Definitely a wild ending.
Heat vs Bucks was the first game in the Eastern Conference. Bucks was the first seeded team coming into these playoffs, and with the Greek Freak, they were expected to perform very well and eventually be in the NBA finals. Heat didn’t think so. First game of the series turned heads for many.. Heat won. Was it a close game? Not particularly. The Heat won the game by 9 with big points from Butler and Bam. Heat didn’t want to lose any momentum, and they didn’t. They ended up winning games 2 and 3 before falling to the Bucks in game 4. That didn’t stop them though. They won game 5 to take the series 4-1. I was impressed!
Last game of the Eastern Conference was between the Celtics and the reigning champions the Raptors. The Celtics had their work cut out, but they had it in them. Being biased here, I wanted the Celtics to win this series. Jayson Tatum is one of my favorite players at the Celtics, and even though he was a bit cocky in the regular season, he showed some pretty insane skills. That didn’t translate to this series. He only averaged 16.5 points, which is very low for him. However, his teammates came through. They battled it out and went into game 7 against the Raptors. If you could see my smile right now, I think you could tell who won: the Celtics!
The Denver Nuggets would play the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals, while the Miami Heat would be playing the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Things were picking up! The NBA bubble was almost done, and one team was still yet to be crowned the NBA champs.
Nuggets against the Lakers. To say the least the Nuggets went down 3-1 against the Lakers. Were people concerned? It was hard to say. Some people thought it was better for the Nuggets since they had come back twice already. However, the Lakers were ready to close this one out. Who won? Lakers! Though I was sad that the Nuggets lost, the Lakers were unstoppable. They won the series 4-1. The Lakers were in the finals.
Celtics against the Heat. The Heat had the advantage in this game, but Gordan Hayward, one of the best players on the Celtics, was back from injury. It was going to be a tough series, but a fun one. The Heat won the first game by 3. Close game, but you could see that the Heat had the advantage. That’s how it played out for the rest of the series. The Heat won 4-2. They would also be going to the NBA finals.
Lakers vs Heat.
I don’t even need to hype this series up. It was back and forth right from the start. Midway through game 1, both Bam and Dragic from the Heat got injured and had to leave the game. With both of them being out, the Lakers ended up winning 116-98. Not the best way to start the series for the Heat. Game 2. It wasn’t much better for the Heat. With both Bam and Dragic out, they were not putting up many points and lost the game. Game 3 was wild. Both Bam and Dragic were still out, but Jimmy Butler went off. He scored 40 points in the win against the Lakers. The series is now 2-1. A productive night for rookie Tyler Herro of the Heat almost overcame the dominant Lakers but couldn’t and lost the game 102-96. This could be the game to seal it for the Lakers. Game 5. The Heat win, and the Lakers don’t seal it. Game 6 now, the biggest game of the year. Lakers start off strong, can the Heat come back? No. They lose by 13 in a dominant performance from none other than Lebron James.
The Lakers had done it. NBA Champions. The first championship in the bubble!!!!
And through it all there wasn’t one coronavirus case.
Well done Adam Silver.
Excited for next year.