Eastern Conference Playoffs: One Week In

As expected, the Beasts of the East have prevailed over their less illustrious brethren and are now ready to move onto the next round. Here are the things that surprised and didn't surprise us.

SURPRISING:
FIRST GAME UPSETS. No one really saw the Magic winning over the Raptors or the Nets winning over the Sixers in the first game. But it was really more the case of the higher seeds acclimatizing to the playoff atmosphere while the lower seeds went for the haymakers from the get-go. Of course, soon the NBA universe righted itself and the Raptors and Sixers won the next four games.

THE BOSTON SWEEP. The only matchup that truly seemed compettitive was also one that went via sweep. Boston leveraged on their playoff experience to bully their way into the next round, pounding the relatively less inexperienced Pacers into submission.



NOT SURPRISING:
FEAR THE DEER. Yeah, you better. And yes, Blake Griffin didn't play in the first three games of the series but I doubt if it would have made a difference anyway. Antetokuonmpo, Middleton, and Bledsoe were just locked in and the Bucks look ready for a deep playoff run.

THE BOSTON ESCAPES.  Also known as the Boston Sweep, the Celts hardly dominated the Pacers in their four wins. They won by 10, 8, 8, and 4, which meant the Pacers were starting to figure them out. And while the Celtics own one of two sweeps in the first round, there were underwhelming, at best.

PREDICITONS FOR THE NEXT ROUND
Bucks vs Celtics - It's not going to be as easy as the Pistons series but the BUcks should dominate this as well. Tatum is a great talent but not as great as Giannis is. Kyrie is better than Bledsoe but not by much. Middleton, Lopez, and Mirotic will be crucial for the Bucks to continue to cruise. For the Celtics, they need to get Marcus Smart back immediately, and ramp up on their chemistry and execution issues (the same ones they've had problems with all season long). Bucks to win, 4-2.

Raptors vs Sixers - Harder to predict but I'm going to go with the upset here. Lowry has not been as good as he was in previous years and while Pascal has blossomed this year, Gasol and Ibaka are no longer good enough to contain Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons will tax Kawhi Leonard's defense while Jimmy Butler will run amok in the backcourt. Sixers to win, 4-3