Aiden Mandel – Mustangs Ahead
(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) - The first round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs is over, and the next round is set. This year there were a lot of exciting series, three of them going to game seven.
The round two matches have been finalized and last year's finals winners the Oklahoma City Thunder will now play against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Minnesota Timberwolves is now playing the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference.
The New York Knicks will play against the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Detroit Pistons will play against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
All the game sevens occurred in the Eastern Conference, with the Boston Celtics blowing 3-1 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers, that ended with Philadelphia winning game 7 in Boston.
The Orlando Magic blew a 3-1 series lead over the Detroit Pistons. After the loss, the Magic fired their coach who had gotten the Magic to the playoffs several times in his career, but always failing to get them out of the first round.
The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 114-102 in game seven after a close, back-and-forth series.
The other victors were the New York Knicks who defeated the Atlanta Hawks in six games. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets in six as well. The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Denver Nuggets in six, and the San Antonio Spurs crushed the Portland Trailblazers in five. And finally, last year's NBA finals winners, the Oklahoma City Thunder smashed the Phoenix Suns in a clean four-game sweep.
Mustang students gave their thoughts and opinions on the results and new matchups.
Junior Patrick Johnson said, “The Knicks performance was stressful at first but won decisively, going into the second round as one of the most dangerous teams.”
Junior Daniel Snitkovsky said, “Round one was very impressive with many game sevens.”