The NBA Playoffs Have Been Absolutely Wild

Last night the 8-seed Heat defeated the 1-seed Bucks in only five games, and the underdog Knicks toppled the Cavaliers also in only five games. In contrast, two nights ago we saw two favorites win their series' when the Nuggets and Suns advanced to the second round. Finally, tonight we are going to see the Celtics and the Warriors fight to win their fourth game in the opening series. With all that being said, I want to take a closer look at the two series I mentioned first, more specifically what happened to the Bucks and Cavaliers.

pc: via Miami Herald

It's only fair to start by talking about the Cavaliers and their embarrassing loss to the Knicks. Before we even think about talking about what happened on the floor, can we please talk about how much better the Cavs are than the Knicks on paper. Based on this season alone Donovan Mitchell should have been by far the best player on the floor. Then you can give second and third best players to Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. However, the Cavs had the fourth, fifth, and sixth best players in this series with Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley. Based just on that it's easy to see why Cleveland was the favorite to win. Despite that, if you actually watched these games it's pretty obvious what happened. The Knicks just wanted it way more. Every player on the Cavs played awfully, while the Knicks looked better than they have at any point this season. Not only did New York win this series, they did it by an incredibly large margin. Jalen Brunson was absolutely incredible, Julius Randle looked way more stable than usual, and players like RJ Barrett, Josh Hart, and Mitchell Robinson outplayed their Cleveland counterparts. If the Knicks continue to play the way they're playing I don't see any reason why they don't make a push for the Finals, but first they have to make it through the Heat, who beat the second team I want to talk about.

pc: via azcentral

The Bucks came into these playoffs as the favorite to win the NBA championship. Giannis should be in consideration for MVP, Brook Lopez was a top voter getter in the DPOY race, and Jrue Holiday made his second all-star team. Even after all of that, none of it mattered when the playoffs started. They matched up against a Heat team that has been underwhelming all year long and who barely made it through the play-in tournament. The Bucks lost game one when Giannis went down with a back injury that would keep him on the sideline for the next two games. However, when the Bucks won game two without him it looked like that first game was a fluke. This could not have been farther from the truth. The Heat stomped Milwaukee in game three, and when Giannis returned for game four Jimmy Butler welcomed him back with 56 points. Finally, in game five the Bucks would hold the lead for the majority of the game before they fell apart entirely. Did it take the best series of Jimmy Butler's career for the Heat to advance? Yes. Does that excuse the Bucks from one of the biggest collapses in NBA history? No. This Milwaukee team is going to have to take a long hard look in the mirror this summer, because this was a cataclysmic failure in every sense of the word.

pc: Jim Rassol/USA Today Sports