The best time of the NBA season is here. The playoffs have arrived, the 16-team field that will vie for the Larry O’Brien Trophy is set, and here are storylines to watch along the way:
HOME DROUGHTS
A pair of long droughts for fans in Los Angeles and New York could end in the next few days.
The last time the Los Angeles Lakers won a playoff game in their own building, Staples Center, was May 18, 2012. (Remember, everything last season was at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.)
Let’s put how long ago May 2012 was in some context: At that point, LeBron James still had zero NBA championships, and the Lakers’ win that day was against an Oklahoma City team that had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
And it has been more than six years — since April 27, 2015 — since a home team won a playoff game in New York. The Brooklyn Nets beat Atlanta that day; the Nets haven’t won a home postseason contest since. The New York Knicks open at home Saturday, against Atlanta, in their first playoff game since 2013.
PICK SIX
Here’s the division winners this season: Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Utah.
History says one of those six teams will win the NBA title.
Starting with 2012, every team to make the NBA Finals has done so after winning a division championship. The 2011 Dallas Mavericks were the most recent team not to win its division but make the finals; they won the title that season.
HOME DROUGHTS
A pair of long droughts for fans in Los Angeles and New York could end in the next few days.
The last time the Los Angeles Lakers won a playoff game in their own building, Staples Center, was May 18, 2012. (Remember, everything last season was at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.)
Let’s put how long ago May 2012 was in some context: At that point, LeBron James still had zero NBA championships, and the Lakers’ win that day was against an Oklahoma City team that had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
And it has been more than six years — since April 27, 2015 — since a home team won a playoff game in New York. The Brooklyn Nets beat Atlanta that day; the Nets haven’t won a home postseason contest since. The New York Knicks open at home Saturday, against Atlanta, in their first playoff game since 2013.
PICK SIX
Here’s the division winners this season: Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Utah.
History says one of those six teams will win the NBA title.
Starting with 2012, every team to make the NBA Finals has done so after winning a division championship. The 2011 Dallas Mavericks were the most recent team not to win its division but make the finals; they won the title that season.
