Who’s Left in the NBA Playoffs 2021?

As the 2021 NBA playoffs wind down, we take a look at which teams are still in the running for the title.

The NBA’s Eastern Conference

The 2021 NBA playoffs are in full swing and there are only a few teams left in the running. In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, and Miami Heat are still alive. The Bucks are the favorites to win it all, but the Nets and Heat have proved they can compete with the best. Who will come out on top?

The Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are the top seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. They have the best record in the NBA and are the favorite to make it to the NBA Finals. They have two All-Stars in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, and their young core of players has continued to improve. The Bucks are a well-rounded team that can score, play defense, and rebound. They will be a tough team to beat in the playoffs.

The Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the two teams left in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Nets are led by All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. The Nets have one of the best offenses in the NBA, and they will be a tough team to beat in the playoffs.

The Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and play at the Wells Fargo Center. Founded in 1946 and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA, and one of only eight (out of 23) to survive the league’s first decade.

The Atlanta Hawks

After an up-and-down regular season, the Atlanta Hawks are the fifth seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. They’ll face off against the fourth-seeded New York Knicks in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs.

The Hawks are led by All-Star guard Trae Young, who averaged 25.3 points and 9.4 assists per game this season. Young is one of the league’s most dynamic scorers, and he’ll need to be at his best if the Hawks want to advance in the playoffs.

Other key players for Atlanta include forward John Collins (19.5 points, 8.8 rebounds per game) and center Clint Capela (14.3 points, 13.8 rebounds per game). The Hawks will also need contributions from role players like Bogdan Bogdanovic (14.5 points per game) and Danilo Gallinari (13.6 points per game) if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs.

The NBA’s Western Conference

It’s been an eventful NBA season and the playoff picture is finally starting to take shape. Out of the 16 teams that qualified, 8 are from the Western Conference. From the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks, here’s a look at the teams that are still in the running for the NBA Championship.

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. They play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, having won 16 NBA championships, their last being in 2010.

The Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Clippers began play as an expansion team in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three expansion teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, California in 1978 and became known as the San Diego Clippers. In 1984, the franchise relocated to Los Angeles.

The Clippers have won two division titles since relocating to Los Angeles in 1984. They qualified for the playoffs six times between 1985 and 1991, including a trip to the conference semifinals in 1991, but have not returned since then. As of 2021, they are one of only four franchises located outside the Eastern or Western time zones that have never made it to an NBA Finals series; along with the Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers .

The Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), but changed its name to Rockets before the first season. It changed its name again to the Nuggets in 1974. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.

The team has had some periods of success, qualifying for the ABA Playoffs 3 times in its early years. It also joined the NBA in 1976 after Version 3 Indiana Pacers were absorbed into seven NBA teams following a period of financial instability and lack of competitiveness within Version 2 of the ABA. In 1983, they qualified for the NBA playoffs for first time since joining NBA; however they failed to win any playoff games that year due to Larry Brown leaving halfway during season to coach University of Kansas men’s basketball team and absence of Alex English, who was representing USA Basketball at FIBA World Championship that year. They would not make playoffs again until 1995. Led by head coach Dan Issel, forward Dikembe Mutombo and point guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, they advanced to second round that year after beating Seattle SuperSonics and Houston Rockets in first round, but lost to eventual conference champions San Antonio Spurs led by high scoring center David Robinson and up-and-coming power forward Tim Duncan who was entering his rookie season that year.

In 2008–09 season led by All-Star power forward Carmelo Anthony and head coach George Karl, they returned back to NBA Playoffs after missing it previous four seasons and made it all way to Western Conference Finals that year, where they lost 4–2 to Los Angeles Lakers who would go on to win NBA Finals that year against Orlando Magic led by All-Star center Dwight Howard.

The Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Northwest Division. The franchise was founded in 1970, and played its home games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995 (called the Rose Garden until 2013). The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA championship once in 1977. Their other NBA Finals appearances were in 1990 and 1992.