Now is the time of the year in which the NBA postseason is in full swing, 2016’s playoffs have so been especially special due to the new and upcoming talent that all the teams have to offer. Coming into May, four teams remain in the postseason for one shot at the championship. These teams include the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. In this year’s semifinal conference matchups, we have Oklahoma City facing the Golden State Warriors, and in the other conference final, we have the Cleveland Cavaliers facing off against the Toronto Raptors.

In the eastern conference Finals, the first matchup is Cleveland Vs. Toronto. One of the big and ongoing surprises of this year’s postseason is the rise of the Toronto Raptors. Led by Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan, the Raptors have overcome challenges and put up upsets against some of the greatest teams in the league. Although the Raptors haven’t reached the postseason since the franchise first came about, they are playing like they have been here every year.Toronto is physically worn down after consecutive seven-game series and losing its starting center, Jonas Valanciunas, along the way.

Meanwhile, Cleveland conversely is remarkably fresh, with back-to-back sweeps to its credit and an empty injury report to its name. Some Argue that Lebron has been playing “ His best basketball yet,”. According to bleeacherreport.com. This matchup for sure is one for the books.

However, in the western conference finals, The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors are prepared to give us fans one of the best conference finals yet. With the Warriors containing the best player in the league and the unanimous MVP, Analysts say they are gonna be a tough challenge to overcome. Although this may be true, OKC will not back down from a fight. Led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the shooting percentage by just the two combined is over 60% from the field. With two nights ago’s win on their shoulders, Oklahoma City is feeling pretty confident coming back into Oakland to play Game 2 with their 1-0 series lead. Russell Westbrook explained in an interview with Espn.com on his regards on Curry:  “He’s a shooter,” Westbrook said, per the question on Curry’s ability “He’s not nothing I haven’t seen. Him, [Damian] Lillard, guys like that can shoot the basketball from four or five feet behind the three. You got to do a little, different job. But just be physical.”

Here at YLHS, students on campus have very mixed emotions on what team they would like to see win the championship. Cameron Carlson (9) stated in an interview with me on the topic of the NBA playoffs. Just before the Cav’s faced off against the Raptors, Cameron, a huge cavalier Fan commented on his Favorite player Lebron James.“ Without a doubt Lebron James Will take his team all the way. Not even curry will stop him”. With the way all these teams are performing, we are in for a postseason for the record books.