As the NBA playoffs continue into the conference championships, this NBA playoffs has proven to be wild and unpredictable. With many lower seeded teams upsetting higher seeded teams, this unlikely trend has deviated from the pattern of recent NBA playoffs. The excitement of the NBA playoffs draws millions of viewers around the world into this global sporting event.

Heading into the conference championships, the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers will be in the Western Conference Championship. The Lakers, the number seven seed, stormed past the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors. In the eastern conference, the Miami Heat, the number eight seed, also made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat will square off against the Boston Celtics. The Lakers and the Heat are the first two play-in tournament teams ever to make their respective Conference Finals.

Senior Quinton Hayek sees this NBA playoffs as a showcase of Jimmy’s Butler’s basketball prowess.

“The Miami Heat has shown its strength in one big way Jimmy Butler,” Hayek said. “The Heat was able to run through the 1 seeded Bucks by leaning on him when it mattered most.”

Indeed, Jimmy Butler has been putting up record-breaking performances, propelling his team. The role players for the Miami Heat, such as veteran Kevin Love, also have been instrumental to the team’s success in these NBA playoffs.

“Looking forward, with the reemergence of power forward Kevin Love, I can see the heat making a push through the semis and into the finals yet again,” Hayek said. “A finals that I believe they can win”

This NBA playoffs is shaping up to have a historic finish. The exact four NBA teams from the 2020 NBA bubble playoffs will meet once again in the 2023 final four. It will be interesting to see which teams can keep their hot streak going, especially the lowest seeded team in the Miami Heat.