On Saturday, April 20, the 2024 National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs began. The NBA held its first playoffs in 1946, but the tournament has changed over the years and is now a more complex sporting event, having added a number of new teams to the competition in the following years. Currently, sixteen teams participate in the playoffs every year: the top eight teams from each side of the country (east and west). These teams then compete in a bracket where whoever wins the most games out of seven advances to the next stage. This continues until there is only one team left.
This year, during the first round, the matchups were as follows for the Eastern Conference: Celtics vs. Heat, Cavaliers vs. Magic, Bucks vs. Pacers, and Knicks vs. 79ers. For the Western Conference, the matchups were Thunder vs. Pelicans, Clippers vs. Mavericks, Timberwolves vs. Suns, and Nuggets vs. Lakers. These pairings were all made according to the seed number given to each team. A seed number represents how high or low the team is ranked in their region. For the playoffs, these numbers are decided based on the win-loss record of each team. For example, the Celtics had the best record compared to the other eastern teams, so their seed number was one.
In fact, the Celtics have performed so well during the regular NBA season that they were favored to win the entire tournament. They won a total of 64 regular games, while the next highest number achieved by an NBA team was only 57. Additionally, the Celtics have won 17 NBA championships since their team was founded in 1946, the same year the playoffs were first created, leading many to believe they are strong candidates to take home the trophy. “Given their record, it seems likely that they could win the playoffs,” said Lucy Targum ’26. Many Concord Academy students were excited at the possibility of the Celtics winning the competition, as, though the team travels a lot for games, they are primarily based in Boston, and some of their players have visited the CA campus before to shoot commercials.
Ultimately, the NBA playoffs serve as a time for all to relax and enjoy the hard work of many talented basketball players from all around the United States.