Who’s Left in the NBA Playoffs?
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We’re down to the final four teams in the NBA Playoffs, and it’s looking like it could be a great finale. Who’s left standing in the way of the championship?
Eastern Conference
As the NBA Playoffs head into the conference finals, only four teams remain. In the East, it’s the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Raptors are coming off a close series against the Philadelphia
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They were established in 1995 as part of the NBA’s expansion into Canada.
The Raptors played their first game in the 1995–96 NBA season. They are originally owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the Maple Leafs, and were purchased by Larry Tanenbaum. In their 24 years of existence, the Raptors have qualified for the playoffs nine times, winning six Atlantic Division championships and one Eastern Conference championship.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are the top seed in the Eastern Conference and will have home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs. They are led by MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game during the regular season. The Bucks also have one of the best defenses in the league, allowing just 106.5 points per 100 possessions during the regular season (second in the NBA). Other key players for Milwaukee includeKhris Middleton (19.1 points per game), Brook Lopez (12.5 points per game, 1.2 blocks per game) and Eric Bledsoe (15.9 points per game, 5.5 assists per game).
Western Conference
The Golden State Warriors are the current frontrunners in the Western Conference, but there are a few teams nipping at their heels. The Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets are both having solid seasons and could easily take the top spot. The Portland Trail Blazers are also in the mix, but they’ll need to have a strong finish to the season to make it to the playoffs.
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the Warriors relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and took the city’s name, before changing its geographic moniker to Golden State in 1971. They play their home games at the Chase Center.
The Warriors won the 1947 BAA Finals, which marked the franchise’s first championship victory. The team would go on to win five additional championships in Oakland, winning their first title of the new millennium in 2015, before winning again in 2017 and 2018 with NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry leading the way. In 2019, newly appointed head coach Steve Kerr led them to their sixth title overall after sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers 4–0 in the NBA Finals. These successes have led them to be dubbed as one of the dynasty teams of NBA history.
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are a professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Rockets were a beneficiary of strong TV and radio viewership due to their proximity to other large cities in Texas, including San Antonio, Dallas, Corpus Christi and Galveston.
Founded in 1967 as part of the American Basketball Association (ABA), the Rockets won two ABA championships before joining the NBA in 1976 as an expansion team. The Rockets had moderate success early on, winning only 30 games during their inaugural season, but posted winning records in three of their next four seasons. In 1980–81, led by new head coach Bill Fitch, who had previously coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA Finals appearance in 1976–77, the Rockets won 41 games. The next season they finished with a 56–26 record – good enough for second place behind only one other team that year – and made it all the way to Conference Finals before losing to the eventual NBA Finals champion Boston Celtics. Despite holding several draft picks throughout 1980s and 1990s that would eventually turn out to be hallmark NBA players- including Hakeem Olajuwon (1984), Clyde Drexler (1983) and Scottie Pippen (1987)-the Rockets were unable to translate those assets into playoff success during that time period. Picking near or at or near the bottom of most drafts during this time also limited their overall talent pool from which they could choose players.
