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The 2022/23 NBA Regular Season was wild to say the least. Wild in both good and bad ways. But the NBA Playoffs are finally here. The regular season was a slog at times, but fans are about to be rewarded with one of the most anticipated playoffs in recent memory. Never has the playing field felt so level. Normally in an NBA season, there are only four to six teams that seem to have an actual shot at winning the title. This season, that number feels more like eight to ten. Here are some of the biggest storylines in the 2023 playoff field.
Eastern Conference:
Who can stop the Bucks (other than injuries)?
The 2021 NBA Champions cruised to the first seed in the east, coming up just short of sixty wins. This is the same core that captured the title two seasons ago. Jrue Holiday remains the best defensive guard in the league. Brook Lopez is an elite rim protector. Khris Middleton is the perfect sidekick, and it all revolves around the consensus best player in the world, Giannis Antetkounpo. Milwaukee is the odds on favorite to roll through the east, but the injury concerns around Middleton that derailed their championship hopes last season haven’t entirely gone away, and Antetokounmpo injured his back in game one of the first round.
After last season’s Finals defeat, is it finally the time for Tatum, Brown and Co.?
The Boston Celtics will certainly view last season’s NBA Finals as the one that got away, after they led the Warriors two to one in the series with a lead in the fourth quarter of game four before eventually losing in six games. Can they finish the job this year? The answer to that question will largely revolve around the shot making of star forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, which has been inconsistent in the playoff runs of years past. A rematch of last year’s seven game marathon with the Bucks looms in a potential Eastern Conference Finals showdown. Brown’s impending free agency is also hanging over this year’s playoff run, and his cryptic remarks about the team’s fan base have done nothing to quiet rumors of his potential exit.
Can the Sixers get past round two?
Star center Joel Embiid has been the runner up for MVP the past two seasons, and has campaigned hard for himself to win the award this year. If he does, it would be deserved, but what would do more to change the perception of himself and this iteration of the Sixers would be to make it to a Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. With co-star James Harden aging, this may be the last best chance this Sixers team has to make a run.
Can a dark horse knock off one of the East’s heavyweights?
Unlike the western conference, there has been a clear top three in the East all year. The seeding reflects that. Nobody has given any team much of a chance to make it to the East Finals other than Milwaukee, Boston or Philadelphia. It’s highly unlikely either of those teams will be challenged in round one, and Boston and Philly are on a second round collision course. But could the winner of the four vs. five seed matchup shock Milwaukee? The New York Knicks are resurgent, deep, and well-coached, although they lack a real superstar. A young and exciting Cleveland Cavaliers team has superstar power in the trio of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobely, but lacks depth. Don’t be surprised if either of these teams pushes the Bucks more than expected, especially if Middleton and Antetokounpo’s injury issues linger.
Western Conference:
Denver is healthy for the first time since the bubble; it’s time to make a run.
The Nuggets boast back to back MVP Nikola Jokic, but have only won one playoff series in the past two seasons. This is in large part due to Jokic’s sidekick Jamal Murray spending 15 months sidelined with a torn ACL. With a healthy Murray and the ever steady Jokic, the Nuggets captured the West’s first seed and appear primed to make a deep run. Questions do remain about this team’s ability to defend in a playoff setting. All three of their top scorers, Jokic, Murray, and Michael Porter Jr., are subpar defenders and defense wins championships. The team also looks lost in the minutes when Jokic is on the bench. A second round matchup with the loaded Phoenix Suns (more on them next) looms.
The Suns have the most star power on paper, but haven’t played together much.
On paper, the Phoenix Suns should win the NBA title,but basketball isn’t played on paper. The midseason blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant gave the team a needed shot in the arm, clearly vaulting them into the category of title contender. Their nucleus of Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Ayton has only played eight games together due to Durant’s injuries this season. They’ve been dominant with all four on the court, but Durant and Paul are both old and constant injury concerns. Not to mention Paul’s long history of playoff flameouts. There is no depth on the bench, and there is no precedent in NBA history for a team acquiring its best player midseason and then winning a title that same year.
Are the Kings anything more than a feel good story?
The Sacramento Kings snapped the longest active playoff drought in American pro sports by capturing the West’s third seed this year. Led by point guard De’Aaron Fox and big man Domantas Sabonis, they’re one of the most fun teams to watch in the league. Will their play translate to the playoffs, however? Their defense was one of the worst in the league, and they are incredibly inexperienced. They also drew an incredibly challenging first round matchup: the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the first ever playoff battle for I-80 and Northern California bragging rights. Defensive and experience concerns aside, if they can get past the Warriors, the Kings would have a real path to the Conference Finals and—with some luck—maybe even the Finals.
Is this the last gasp of the Warriors’ dynasty?
The Golden State Warriors have defined the last decade of NBA basketball, winning four of the past eight championships, including last season’s crowning achievement against the Celtics. This was one of the rockiest seasons that they have had under Steve Kerr. The team sputtered through injuries, inconsistent play, a remarkably bad road record, and a preseason fight to the six seed, the lowest seed they’ve been in any year they made the playoffs since Kerr took over as coach. The team faces an uphill battle to get out of the first round.Yet they are still the Warriors. This is still the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green that has never—I repeat NEVER—lost a playoff series in which all three started all of the games. Although these might not be the same Warriors of old, the championship DNA is still there. They are battle tested, and know how to win deep in the playoffs more than any other team in the league. Sacramento has given them more than they can handle for much of the first round so far. With the aging core and time running down on Green’s contract, this could be the last time we see this iteration of the mighty Warriors dynasty all together.
Horrendous takes throughout…