On May 15, 2022, there was high anticipation leading into a day with two spectacular series having a game seven to determine who will move on to the Conference Finals of the NBA playoffs. 

Game one consisted of the #2 seeded Boston Celtics taking on the #3 seeded Milwaukee Bucks. With each team alternating wins in the first six games, the Bucks were expected to win game seven on the road, led by their best player Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics had other plans and would defend their home court to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals to face off against the #1 seed Miami Heat. While the Celtics are led by Tatum each and every game, it was yet again a role player that stepped up to help secure the victory for the Celtics. Grant Williams led the team in scoring with 27 points for the first time in his career, while additionally pouring in another career high of seven three-pointers. It was the margin of three-point percentage that determined the winner of this game, with the Celtics making 22 three-pointers compared to the Bucks’ four. As for Antetokounmpo, despite becoming the first player in NBA history to record 200 points, 100 rebounds and 50 assists in a playoff series, his ultimate goal of winning his second consecutive NBA championship was cut short.  The Celtics will now move on to challenge the Heat for a spot in the NBA Finals coming out of the east.

Game two of the night was held in Phoenix by the #1 seeded Suns against the #4 seeded Mavericks. While this series has been tight from the start, no team had won on the road to this point, and the team with the best record in the NBA in the Suns was heavily favored. This is what made this game so shocking. Leading up to the game, analysts said that this game would be determined by fourth year phenom Luka Doncic. After watching the first half, it is safe to say that these analysts were correct. In the first half alone, Doncic and the entire Phoenix Suns team had 27 points, and the Mavericks were ahead by 30 points at halftime. Although, it was more than just Doncic who helped lead the Mavericks to victory. Spencer Dinwiddie came off the bench to score 30 points off the bench for the Mavericks. On the defensive side of the ball, the Mavericks were also able to hold the Suns extremely talented backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker to not a single field goal in the first half. It was about as close to a near-flawless game as we could have seen from the Mavericks, and it was simply a game that’s result was determined before the second half had started. The Suns became only the second team in NBA history to fall short of the Conference Finals while recording 60 or more wins in the regular season. The Mavericks will advance to take on the #3 seed Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals to battle for the final spot in the NBA Finals coming out of the west.