The NBA's Best Playoff Races To Watch

Tis the season for NBA mayhem...

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Welcome the Madness

I love this time of year. We’re scoreboard watching every night, (some) teams are picking up their urgency, and playoff races are coming into focus. Ironically, pulling back the curtain a bit, this is actually something of a slow time in terms of NBA fan engagement¹. The trade deadline brings a ton of rumors, intrigue, and eyeballs, but the period afterwards can have a certain sluggishness with it, and that’s unfortunate.

Casual fans² are ready for the Playoffs to begin now that rosters are largely set, focusing on looking ahead to April rather than taking in the wonderful chaos that March brings. Perhaps it’s a reflection of our modern lives, often face down in our phones, anticipating what the future might bring rather than taking in the treasure of the present.

That, of course, is a larger societal issue, but still one that matters a great deal to the sports world. As I like to say, every day when we wake up we have access to more information than the greatest thinkers in all of human history. Every single day. While the power of technological innovation has drastically improved our lives, it’s also created a culture that is used to having everything at our fingertips. Our attention span has waned as more people consume short-form content, highlights, and what have you.

For us in sports media, that means the content churn is a (fun) grind, with today’s news having a shelf life of 24 hours at most, and often far less. It’s more difficult for many to simply enjoy the highs and lows of the journey, instead obsessing over the next BIG thing, whether it be a trade or an instantly immortal playoff performance.

That approach, the one that looks away from an NBA devoid of trade deadline Woj bombs and Playoff performances, misses what is a thrilling stretch of the season as many teams jockey for standings supremacy.

But that’s not you. No, if you’re reading this, you’re not the type to take a breather at this stage of the season. You’re locked in, and rightfully so. The NBA right now, as they say, is fantastic.

Here is why: