After an exhilarating first round of the nba playoffs, all series are over and the winners will be going on to the conference semifinals. The loser’s seasons, however, are over and enter the offseason looking to add new pieces that will hopefully propel them forward next season. In the east, the Bucks and Pistons series were not much of a series at all. The Bucks made quick work of the Pistons with a 4-0 series sweep led by the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Pistons without Blake Griffin simply did not have enough firepower to keep up with the Bucks. The Bucks were not the only team in the east to come away with a sweep in their series. The Boston Celtics came away with a 4-0 victory over the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers were another team that fell victim to injury with the loss of their all star guard, Victor Oladipo. It is only fair that the two teams that came away with series sweeps face off against each other in the second round. The Bucks and Celtics look to be more of a competitive series with both teams having All-Star caliber players. The Bucks are currently winning the series 2-1 and game four is May 6. In the next conference semifinals the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors face off against each other. Both teams came away with a 4-1 series victory over their previous opponents. This matchup looks to be more competitive for both teams with 76ers, Joel Embiid, trying to establish himself as one of the most dominant players in the NBA by winning an NBA championship. Raptors, Kawhi Leonard, who has already established himself as one of these dominant players with a championship already under his belt, will be looking to bring his new team their very first conference title in franchise history. The series is currently being won by raptors 3-2 and game 6 is May 9.

In the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets face off in a rematch of last year’s Conference finals that went all the way down to game seven last year. The Warriors ultimately won the series and went on to win their back to back NBA championship. The Rockets are hoping to get sweet revenge against their bitter rivals who have knocked them out of the playoffs in 3 of the past 4 seasons. The warriors are currently winning the series 3-2 and game 6 is May 10.  In the next conference semifinals matchup, the Portland Trail Blazers go up against the Denver Nuggets. The Trailblazers made quick work of the OKC Thunder by winning the series 4-1. Damian Lillard single handedly knocked out the Thunder by dropping 50 points and a buzzer beater 3 in game five to seal the Thunders fate. He’ll be looking to continue his hot shooting streak against the Nuggets who went all the way down to a game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs. It was in fact the only series to go to a game seven in the first round, and tested the Nuggets who lack the most playoff experience than all the other teams. With the first round out of the way the Nuggets are battle tested and know what it takes to win a playoff series. They’ll hopefully will use this newly acquired knowledge to propel them forward past a dangerous Trail Blazers team. The series is currently being won by Denver at 3-2 and game six is May 9. The second round series of the NBA playoffs are set and every team is going to have to dig deep if they want their shot at an NBA championship.