The NBA Playoffs are a big deal for most NBA fans, whether their team made the playoffs or not. There are always bets being made, polls to take on who is favored to win one game or another and brackets getting formed. Every year, 16 NBA teams end up making the playoffs, and each round is determined by two teams playing a best out of seven series. Once a team wins four games, they move onto the next round of the playoffs. There are four rounds total ending with the NBA Finals. 

On April 16, 2022, the first round of playoffs began. The Dallas Mavericks competed at home against the Utah Jazz where they took the first win of the 2022 playoffs. Later that night, the Minnesota Timberwolves outscored the Memphis Grizzlies by 13 points to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The biggest win of the night took place when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors by 20 points. Wrapping up the night was an expected win by the Golden State Warriors as they defeated the Denver Nuggets 123-107. The next day, on April 17, 2022, four more first round games were played with the Miami Heat defeating the Atlanta Hawks to begin the night. The Brooklyn Nets, who many people had winning the championship this year, lost their first game to the Boston Celtics leaving them down 0-1. The former NBA champs, Milwaukee Bucks, won their first game against the Chicago Bulls, which was not a surprise. The last game of the night took place in Phoenix where the Suns barely won against the New Orleans Pelicans, defeating them 110-109. 

After all 16 teams had played their first games, the second games began. Taking place on April 18, 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers won again against the Toronto Raptors, putting them up in the series 2-0. However, the Dallas Mavericks tied up their series 1-1, as they defeated the Utah Jazz 110-104. As many were predicting, the Golden State Warriors won their second game at home as they secured their win against the Denver Nuggets with a score of 126-106. With Jimmy Butler averaging 21 points per game and Tyler Herro averaging 20 points per game, the Miami Heat won their second game against the Atlanta Hawks. Later that night, the Memphis Grizzlies tied up their series 1-1 as they completely dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-96. Although the Pelicans vs. Suns played in a close game in game one, the New Orleans Pelicans pulled out the 125-114 win in game two. To end the night, the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-107, completing their second win of the playoffs. Upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks in the second game, the Chicago Bulls took an unexpected win as they ended the game winning 114-110. 

After game three took place on April 20, 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers took a 3-0 series lead against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors had a very unfortunate start to the playoffs as three of their best players were injured in their first playoff game, making it tough to beat the high powered 76ers. After heading back to Minnesota, the Timberwolves had one of the worst losses in NBA history, blowing a 26-point lead to lose 104-95. The Mavericks kept their momentum rolling in game three when superstar Luka Doncic came back from injury and helped them to a 126-118 win. The Warriors took care of business with what was thought to be the most likely sweep of the first round, defeating the Nuggets 118-113. While the Hawks showed to be no match for the Heat in the first two games, Trae Young led his team to an unexpected 111-110 victory at home. After an unexpected loss at home for the Bucks, the team rebounded in Chicago to regain their lead in the series after winning game three by a whopping 30 points, 111-81. Although it is a #1 seed vs #8 seed, matchup, the Suns snuck by the energetic Pelicans in game three, winning 114-111. To wrap all the game three matchups, the Celtics continued to assert their dominance against the Nets, being led to a 109-103 victory by all-star Jayson Tatum.

The 76ers kicked off the game four matchups expecting to be the first team to have a 4-0 sweep in the playoffs, but the Raptors had other plans. The Raptors were led by Pascal Siakam in an inspired win in game five by a score of 110-102. The Jazz were down five points with only 40 seconds remaining in game four, but mounted an improbable last minute comeback to beat the Mavericks on a last second alley-oop by Rudy Gobert to win 100-99. The Timberwolves proved they wanted to hang around a little longer, upsetting the Grizzlies by a score of 119-118 at home to even the series to two games apiece. The Bucks pulled off an unexpected two games in the Bulls’ home stadium, winning game four 119-95. With the Nuggets being the second team on the brink of being swept, they rallied behind Nikola Jokic to a 126-121 home court victory in game four. The Heat had a little fire lit after getting unexpectedly beaten in game three by the #8 seed Heat, and came out ready to play in game four, winning 110-86. The Pelicans continued to defy odds, defeating the #1 seed Suns 118-103, evening the series at 2-2. The Celtics proved why they were a #2 seed in the East, shockingly sweeping the Nets 116-112, taking out superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for their first time being eliminated in the first round of their career. The Raptors were seeking to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 0-3 start to a series, shockingly winning game five by a score of 103-88 in Philadelphia. The Mavericks rallied after their improbable loss in game four, by blowing out the Jazz at home by a score of 102-77. The Heat finished up their series after overpowering the Hawks with their swarming defense led by Jimmy Butler, winning game five by three points, 97-94. The Grizzlies had another comeback win in game five against the inexperienced Timberwolves, winning 111-109. The Suns kept their poise in Phoenix and remained calm with the pressure on them, winning game five 112-97. The Bucks finished off a very injured Bulls team by a score of 116-100, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Warriors finished off any hope that the Nuggets had left, winning the series after a game five win by a score of 102-98. With the 76ers backs against the wall in Toronto, the Raptors laid an egg in game six, getting beat by an astounding 35 points at home to end the series at 132-97. The Suns closed out an unexpectedly close series by a score of 115-109 against the Pelicans, led by veteran point guard Chris Paul, who had the best shooting performance in NBA history shooting 14/14. The Mavericks closed out the series against the Jazz 98-96, after another disappointing blown lead by the Jazz in the playoffs. The Grizzlies closed out the opening round against the Timberwolves, after the Wolves blew another lead in the fourth quarter, losing 114-106.