The NBA playoffs are upon us, and the quest for the Larry O’Brien Trophy is on.
The third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks will face the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals. While the Bucks haven’t reached the NBA Finals since 1974, the Atlanta Hawks have never reached the Finals (the St. Louis Hawks reached four Finals from 1957-61, winning the title in 1958).
The second-seeded Phoenix Suns blew open the Western Conference race when they eliminated the defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round and swept the Denver Nuggets in the second round. The Los Angeles Clippers, meanwhile, survived a tough seven-game series against the Dallas Mavericks and then eliminated the Utah Jazz in six games to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.
