Over the past decade, the National Basketball Association playoffs have been controlled by major superstar names and teams. However, this year it seems the new generation has officially taken the reigns with the first round of the NBA playoffs coming to a close. All the iconic faces and teams of the 2010s NBA era are gone. The new generation is all that is left in the playoffs, with lots of legends being eliminated or not even making it to the playoffs. 

“I think the young players are dominating and it’s proving that the younger and stronger you are the better you are, but people are evolving and finding better ways to improve now so I feel like younger players are better now than they were in the past,” Miami Palmetto Senior High Varsity basketball player and basketball enthusiast Josh Lipson said. 

Eastern Conference

#1 Boston Celtics 4 – #4 Cleveland Cavaliers 1– The Boston Celtics beat the already weakened Cavaliers, who were missing their star Donovan Mitchell for the last two games of the series. Although Boston was dominant, the Cavaliers won in game two at Boston by dominating from the three-point line, just as the Miami Heat did in game two against the Celtics in the first round. The Celtics had the best regular season record and according to Las Vegas betting odds, are highly favored to win the championship.

#6 Indiana Pacers 4 – #2 New York Knicks 3 — This exciting series was the ultimate battle of Eastern Conference star guards, Jalen Brunson of New York and Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana. The series had so many memorable games, including the 111-106 Indiana victory in which Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard made a 31-foot three-pointer that sealed the game for them. On the Knicks’ side, although they fought, they were heavily injured, missing center Mitchell Robinson and star Forward Julius Randle for the whole series, starting forward OG Anunoby for almost the last five games of the series, and their superstar Jalen Brunson for the second half of game seven. The Pacers play the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Western Conference

#5 Dallas Mavericks 4 – #1 Oklahoma City Thunder— The young Thunder team was not enough to beat the superstar duo of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. The series was headlined by game six which came down to the wire. In the 116-117 game, the Mavericks came back from down 17 in the third quarter to win off two made free throws and an intentionally missed free throw from forward P.J. Washington. Despite the loss, the very young Thunder team has a bright future, being the youngest one-seeded team in NBA history, along with 12 first-round draft picks over the next few years.

#3 Minnesota Timberwolves 4 – #2 Denver Nuggets 3 — many analysts and NBA fans across the world acclaimed this series as the best of the year so far. The defending champs, the Nuggets, came out looking for glory this year and almost made it, but could not get past the Wolves. Up-and-coming superstar Anthony Edwards leads the Minnesota team, accompanied by the big man duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, sixth man of the year award winner Naz Reid and many more. The most recent Most Valuable Player award winner and three-time winner overall, Nikola Jokic, was not enough for the Nuggets, despite averaging 29 points, 11.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists throughout the series. 

“The most entertaining series was the Timberwolves and the Nuggets,” junior Ethan Epelbaum said. “I wanted to see Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards beat Nikola Jokic because he beat my favorite team last year.”

With that being said, the bracket goes as followed: The #1 Seed Boston Celtics plays the #6 seed Indiana Pacers for a trip to the finals, and the #3 Minnesota Timberwolves play the #5 Dallas Mavericks to get to the finals as well. 

“I think the Timberwolves [are winning it all] because they just beat the reigning champs,” Epelbaum said.

These playoff series have featured many shocking defeats not just in the second round, but the first round as well. With legends of the game getting eliminated like Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry (in the play-in) and more. 

“It’s sad to see the older legendary players fade because that’s who I grew up watching, but it’s still fun to watch the younger guys dominate,” Lipson said.