The second round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs is in the books, with the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks advancing to the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, respectively, with Game 7 wins.
Despite a herculean effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Celtics were able to prevail at home thanks to a career game from Grant Williams, who hit seven threes. Meanwhile, Luka Doncic and the Mavericks managed to overcome a 2-0 series deficit and absolutely embarrass the Phoenix Suns on their home floor.
Boston will take on the Miami Heat, who dismantled the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers while Dallas draws the Golden State Warriors, who made quick work of the Denver Nuggets and held off a feisty Memphis Grizzlies squad. The Conference Finals are slated to start this week and the NBA released the full schedule, via Marc Spears of ESPN:
NBA Conference Finals schedule pic.twitter.com/B8LKSWdOnf
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 16, 2022
The top-seeded Heat kick off the round’s action against the Celtics on Tuesday at FTX Arena and the Warriors will host the Mavericks at Chase Center on Wednesday. The series will shift to Boston and Dallas, respectively, during the weekend, with additional games to follow if necessary. The Warriors-Mavericks series will air exclusively on TNT while the Heat-Celtics series will be split between ESPN and ABC.
As far as matchups go, the Celtics have perhaps the most well-rounded team with Jayson Tatum stamping himself as one of the league’s best players. The Heat feel like a team that has been overlooked and despite losing Kyle Lowry to injury, Jimmy Butler has picked up the slack and is playing his best basketball of the year.
On the other coast, the Warriors showed cracks in the second round but came together to close out the Grizzlies in a competitive matchup. However, Doncic has made the Mavericks a legitimate contender and with a stout defense behind him, they should be taken more seriously to come out of the Western Conference.
Jeanie Buss ‘growing impatient’ after Lakers missed postseason
It was a major surprise to see the Los Angeles Lakers miss the playoffs entirely despite having a trio of stars on the roster. After such a failure, major changes seem like an inevitability especially after Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said she is growing impatient.
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