It’s a wrap for an NBA regular season that wasn’t short of storylines. Competitive playoff races in the East; drama in Los Angeles, New York, and Philly; the rise of the Memphis Grizzlies; young stars elevating their play; and one of the tightest MVP races we’ve ever seen have all kept fans engaged. The NBA gave hoopers plenty to talk about in its 75th season. Let’s recap the biggest stories this season before we move on to the Play-In-Tournament and the Playoffs.
1. Phoenix Suns’ Redemption Tour:
After making the finals and taking a 2-0 lead, the Suns fell apart and lost four straight games to Giannis and the Bucks. Sometimes getting blitzed like that on a big stage can linger over a team, but not the Phoenix Suns. The 2021-2022 edition of the Suns won a franchise record 64 games are the clear betting favorites to return to the Finals out of the West…and raise the Larry O’Brien trophy. Devin Booker became a MVP candidate this season, DeAndre Ayton balled out in a contract year and Mikal Bridges is a defensive player of the year candidate. Can Chris Paul return to the finals and get it done?
2. The East is a Beast:
The Eastern Conference was as competitive as its ever been this season. 10 teams in the East finished with a winning record, only two games separated seeds first through fourth seed and only one game separated the four Play-In-Tournament participants. The Boston Celtics were struggling, but surged all the way to the two seed in the East. Their possible reward for earning the two seed could be a clash with the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. Milwaukee are the favorites in many people’s eyes to win the east, Philly will be under a lot of pressure with the addition of James Harden to make a deep run, and the team at the top – the Miami Heat – are getting little respect from pundits to win the East and will be hungry.
3. Who is the MVP:
This years MVP race is one of the closest in recent memory and you can’t go wrong with any the top three candidates. Joel Embiid has been the frontrunner most of the season. Embiid led the league in scoring – the first center since Shaq to win the scoring title – and changes the game with his presence on defense. Embiid averaged 30.6 points, nearly 12 rebounds, and four assists. Nikola Jokic came on strong after the All-Star break. The defending MVP had another excellent season. The Joker filled up the stat sheet averaging 27 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists. Jokic had the first season ever where a player scored 2000 points, 1000 rebounds, and 500 assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a 2x MVP, a defensive player of the year, a Finals MVP and got better. Giannis may have passed KD as the best player in the game this season. His shooting has improved throughout the season, his defense is still strong and he just looks comfortable after finally winning a championship
4. Grit-N-Grind 2.0
The Memphis Grizzlies were the surprise team of the season. The Grizzlies were a playoff team last year, but nobody could’ve saw Memphis winning 56 games and finishing 2nd in the West this season. Ja Morant will most likely win Most Improved Player and if he was more healthy this season would be in the MVP conversation. When Ja was out the Grizzlies still won games led by Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. Memphis will have a say in the West and won’t bow down to either the Suns or the Warriors.
5. Drama in LA, Brooklyn and Philly
The Los Angeles Lakers won’t be participating in the post season this season. The Russell Westbrook trade didn’t work out from the beginning of the season and Anthony Davis was injured for a good majority of the season. Even when the Lakers had those twi with LeBron James, they didn’t look very strong. Frank Vogel will be fired this offseason and the Lakers will have to figure out what they are going to do with this roster. James Harden and Ben Simmons weren’t happy in Brooklyn and Philly and were swapped for each other in a blockbuster trade. However, until this point you can make an argument that the trade hasn’t worked out for either team. Ben Simmons hasn’t played a single game in Brooklyn with a back injury and there’s no telling when or if he will return. Harden has struggled down the stretch since joining the Sixers. The narrative around Harden is that he folds in the postseason as his level of play usually isn’t up to par with his play in the regular season. James Harden will have to change the narrative if Philly will advance deep in the postseason.
Next up, is what should be an exciting playoffs.