The energetic vibe from the collegiate competition of March Madness is shifting to the National Basketball Association, as the NBA teams are now entering into the 2015 NBA playoffs to compete for the Championship ring.

Overall, the teams are divided into two conferences: East and West. During the season, each team plays a total number of 82 games, and the goal is to place in the top 8 seed in order to play in the playoffs. Each team competes in a series of 7 games, whichever team reaches 4 wins moves onto the next round of the playoffs.

In the Western Conference, the NBA teams that placed were the Golden State Warriors (ranked 1st), New Orleans Pelicans (ranked 8th), Portland Trailblazers (ranked 4th),  Memphis Grizzlies (ranked 5th), Los Angeles Clippers (ranked 3rd), San Antonio Spurs (ranked 6th), Houston Rockets (ranked 2nd), and Dallas Mavericks (ranked 7th).

In the first round of playoffs, which began on April 18th, the Warriors were matched with the Pelicans. The Warriors were able to lead and win the series, 4-0, after defeating the Pelicans, 109-98, on April 25th. The next match-up was the Trailblazers and the Grizzlies. The Grizzles were able to fight through and demolish the Trailblazers, winning the series 4-1. The most competitive series was played between the Clippers and Spurs. After back to back wins from both teams, Game 7 would determine the team that would move on to the next round in the competition. Andie Alcaraz (11) was “excited and scared, but [she] knew the Clippers would play their hearts out and win in the last game.” Amazingly, the Clippers Point Guard, Chris Paul, was able to bank a shot, adding two more points to gain the lead in the last few seconds of Game 7. The Clippers happily moved on with a series win of 4-3. The last match-up was between the Rockets and Mavericks. On April 28th, the Rockets were able to defeat the 2011 Champions, the Dallas Mavericks, in a 4-1 series score. In the second round of playoffs for the west,  the Golden State Warriors are paired with the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Los Angeles Clippers are paired with the Houston Rockets. These games will begin in the second week of May.

In the Eastern Conference, the teams that successfully placed in the top 8 were the Atlanta Hawks (ranked 1st), Brooklyn Nets (ranked 8th), Toronto Raptors (ranked 4th), Washington Wizards (ranked 5th), Chicago Bulls (ranked 3rd), Milwaukee Bucks (ranked 6th), Cleveland Cavaliers (ranked 2nd), and the Boston Celtics (ranked 7th).

Heading towards the East, the Hawks went against the Nets, blatantly defeating the Nets in a 4-2 series run to land a spot in next round. In the next match-up, the Wizards mercilessly defeated the Raptors, filling in the empty seat to compete with the Hawks in the next round. After such a competitive series, the Bucks, ranking 6th, were sent home after the Bulls won 4 out of the 6 games played. Moreover, the Cavaliers, whose star player is LeBron James, went undefeated against the Celtics, for a playoff sweep of 4-0. Megan Le(11) believes that the final runnings between these teams will be the Hawks and the Cavaliers.

In the second round, the Hawks will be playing against the Wizards, while the Bulls will be playing against the Cavaliers.

Good luck to all these teams!