East series
The fans of the Garden prepared quite well for the return of the Nets of Durant and Irving, although with the tables turned, because this year the Bostonians were the best classified. Game 1 looked like it was going to be an epic eliminator after seeing a spectacular version of Brooklyn's bad boy that only Jayson Tatum's last-gasp basket could outshine. Finally, the Celtics passed with a superb 4-0.
The same results were achieved by the Heat against the Hawks and by Antetokounmpo's Greek Bucks against the team that seemed to excite the most at the beginning of the season, Lavine's Bulls. The qualifiers were sentenced to the absence of the game that would decide the pass of the 76ers against the Raptors to end a 4-2 for the Philadelphians.
The story was already different in the next phase, Heat vs. 76ers and Bucks vs. Celtics, two matches worth enjoying again as many times as one wanted. The champions came to be 3-2 with games in which Giannis had damaged his rival scoring 40 points or more, an outrage.
But it wasn't enough for the North, as the almighty Garden lifted the spirits of players like Brown. Horford and, the unknown, Tatum to turn the tie around. A whole pitched battle that ended up sentencing an inspired Grant Williams who put the icing on the cake in the seventh game with triple winners.
And meanwhile, the Heat eliminated the 76ers with a not very worked 4-2. Jimmy Buttler's men got to 2-0 with great performances from Oladipo and Adebayo who made the most of Joel Embiid's absence.
Already with the Cameroonian on track, in the third match things changed. So much so that we saw the version of a Harden unleashed. However, Erik Spoelstra's team is too much if Tyler Herro, PJ Tucker, Kyle Lowry or Gabe Vincent are added to those already named. Before the Philadelphians could continue with the comeback, they took a step forward, and then another that took the team directly to the Conference final this 22.
Final epic in the East
There were up to three ties in the tie between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. With Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown accompanying Jayson Tatum, they managed to go 1-1, 2-2 and then take the lead with 3-2 and finally take the successful pass with the final 4-3.
Butler's men started well, quite well, but the continuous losses suffered in the fourth game considerably punished a team that had just had an incredible regular season. However, Jimmy Butler relaunched the Heat in Game 6 with 47 points, giving an extra life for the final game of the series.
But it was not enough, because the aforementioned Big Three, added to the rebounds of Al Horford, opted for the seventh game for the Celtics, who left the fans of the FTX Arena with disconsolate faces after seeing their champion team regular season, eliminating the 76ers in the semifinals, and twice advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston Celtics
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