After the NBA closed a season with rampant tanking and record ratings — wait, those things can coexist? — now comes the postseason.
With the attention mercifully turning away from lottery positioning to playoff competition, here are 10 storylines that will define the next month or two.
1. Are the Pistons ready to honor their seed?
Two years ago this week, Detroit capped off five straight years of tanking with a 14-68 campaign. Now they’re 60-22 and the top seed in the East.
Can they close the deal and reach the NBA Finals without a viable No. 2 scoring option behind Cade Cunningham, who averaged 24.2 points and has come back from a collapsed lung?
That’s what the playoffs will show. But their defense looks title worthy; the Pistons are only the third team in the last 15 years to lead the league in both blocks and steals.
2. Can anyone other than the Spurs stop the Thunder from repeating?
San Antonio is a real threat — plus-50 against OKC in five games with Victor Wembanyama on the court averaging just 25 minutes — but is anybody else?
If Denver gets past the Spurs in the second round, they have the NBA’s top offense and Nikola Jokic. He led the league in rebounds and assists, the first to do so since 1969-70. And Boston could come out of the East as another proven champion.
3. What can LeBron do without Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic?
King James — in his record-tying 19th playoff appearance — now must shoulder ballhandling and shot-creation duties against the Rockets’ withering defense and outduel Kevin Durant.
At 41, JJ Redick was right when he said the Lakers are best with James as the third option. Now he’s the only option with Reaves (oblique) and Doncic (hamstring) felled by Grade 2 strains.
They need Marcus Smart at his best, other role players to get on a heater, and Durant to go ice cold. Good luck.
4. Which player has the most to prove in the playoffs?
Tie: Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
Mitchell’s 28.3 ppg career playoff average is seventh all time, but in eight postseasons he’s never made a conference finals.
The Cavs traded for Harden to change that and are 19-6 when he plays. But his playoff disappearing acts are legendary, and Cleveland’s defensive woes — 17th in defensive efficiency in the second half — make it tough to have faith.
5. Can the Celtics turn a gap year into a championship?
Indiana lost Tyrese Haliburton and chose to tank. Boston lost Jayson Tatum and chose violence, riding Jaylen Brown’s 28.7 ppg, winning DNA and great player development.
Now with Tatum back from his Achilles tear, the Celtics have the star power, depth and balance to make a run at another ring — even with Neemias Queta, Nikola Vucevic and Luka Garza at the five.
6. Can the Knicks succeed?
Team owner James Dolan crowed in a January radio interview that they “should” win the title, and reaching the NBA Finals is something they “absolutely have to do.”
But even getting back to the conference finals — a feat that got Tom Thibodeau fired — requires not only beating the red-hot Hawks (who closed 19-5) but likely Boston, the betting favorite to win the East. That still likely only earns them a rematch with the Pistons, itching for playoff payback.
7. Which star shakes loose after a playoff disappointment?
Even ignoring the absent Giannis Antetokounmpo, early exits prompt unexpected departures.
If the Cavs go out in the first or second round with the league’s priciest roster, will Mitchell want out?
Will Knicks “failure” result in a roster shake-up and Karl-Anthony Towns being moved? And with Paolo Banchero not on the same page as coach Jamahl Mosley all season, the Ringer’s Raheem Palmer reported the Magic star is set to demand a trade if Mosley isn’t canned at the end of this season.
8. Who are some of the X factors who could swing a series?
Role players often swing a series with unexpected contributions.
Denver was supposed to be deeper this year. While Cam Johnson hasn’t been great, Peyton Watson can attack the rim and provide needed wing defense. The Pistons have needed a second scorer, and Daniss Jenkins’ emergence while Cunningham was out with a collapsed lung helped them go 9-3 until his return. Payton Pritchard, AJ Mitchell and Mitchell Robinson are also likely X factor heroes.
9. Is there a sleeper team?
By the true “March Madness: 16 over a 1 seed” definition of sleeper, that might be No. 6 Atlanta.
Atlanta has benefited from addition by subtraction after getting rid of Trae Young, and won 19 of 24 going into a first-round matchup vs. the Knicks.
But in terms of a lower seed that can actually go all the way, that would be the No. 3 Nuggets, who could certainly go out in the second round against San Antonio, but could just as easily knock off the Spurs and then end OKC’s title defense en route to playing for a championship if their defense can hold up.
10. Are any of the young bucks for real?
We don’t mean Milwaukee. They clearly aren’t. But between Atlanta, Portland and Charlotte, can any make noise?
Rookie of the Year front-runner Kon Knueppel’s Hornets are in the play-in, having closed 28-10 after a 16-28 start. The Hawks had climbed just high enough to clinch the sixth seed against the Knicks, having closed 19-5 behind the emergent Jalen Johnson, 24.
And Portland took 10 of their final 14, but their only victories over winning teams came against the Clippers and Minnesota (without Anthony Edwards). As the competition levels up, can they?
