The NBA playoffs are filled with intense finishes, disappointments, and incredible storylines. This year has been nothing different entering the Conference Finals. The remaining four teams have gone through a lot to reach this stage, and have all endured their own challenges. The final two teams battling for the East are the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, while the teams fighting for the West are the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers. All four of these teams have star studded lineups, but each team has a different reason on why they made it this far.

Milwaukee Bucks
The number one seed from the East features a perfect team build, from the starting lineup to the tenth man on the bench, this team is dangerous. This team is built around one superstar, the likely NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The 6’11 small forward is built to attack the hoop, while the team around him is based off three pointers. Every player on this team is a specialized three point shooter, as every player on this team has been shooting above 30% from three point range during these playoffs. “While Antetokounmpo is not a great shooter, Milwaukee more than makes up for this one deficiency in his game by surrounding him with a battalion of sharpshooters including Khris Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon, Brook Lopez, and Tony Snell among others, all of whom are reliable from deep and provide spacing that allows Giannis to drive with ease,” says Micah Wimmer, sports writer from Fansided.

Toronto Raptors
Playing against Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals are the number two seed Toronto Raptors. This team went into the playoffs with the unanimous best bench in the NBA, but the production from key players on this team hasn’t been there. With the lack of help from supporting teammates, superstar Kawhi Leonard has taken over during this stretch; his averages during these playoffs compare to the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan. Even though Leonard’s supporting cast has been lackluster on offense, this team was built to defend. “The Raptors have the defensive versatility to deal with the Bucks’ potent attack,” said, CBS Sports writer, Chris Bengel. If Kawhi continues his heroics, and he gets help from his disappearing teammates, this Raptors team has a good chance of holding up the trophy.

Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are back again in the Western Conference Finals, making it back to this round for the fifth year in a row. This team has shown so much success over the past five years thanks to their superstar lineup, which features five all-stars, when healthy. This team has everything they need to win their third championship in a row, and their fourth in five years. This is due to not only their experience and coaching staff, but also their starting lineup featuring Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. “I think they have the best starting lineup in the history of the NBA, when all healthy,” said Evan Simonds ‘19. This team will be hard to dethrone as reigning NBA champs, as a team will need to play their best basketball for four games.

Portland Trail Blazers
Matching up against the Golden State Warriors are the third seeded Portland Trail Blazers. This team is headlined by their amazing guard duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. These two have been tearing teams up in the playoffs. Lillard is averaging 28 points per game in the playoffs while McCollum is averaging 25 point per game. This team has to play their best basketball this series if they even want a chance of making the finals. Lillard and McCollum can both fill their roles of primary and secondary scorers, but to win this series, someone is going to have to step up and be a reliable third option, such as Maurice Harkless or Enes Kanter. This team can defend the Warriors to some level, but the defense is useless if they can’t score consistently.

Final Thoughts
Overall, the playoffs are shaping up to have a very interesting finish this year. With already two amazing buzzer beating, series winning shots in the previous two rounds, this year is filled with excitement. The Warriors have jumped out to a dominant 3-0 lead against the Blazers, while the Bucks are up in the series 2-1.