Aaaand they are locked in!!! These are the 2016-2017 NLL playoff teams!!

I  thought it would be a good idea to take a look at each team, from above and see what’s going on and what are the interesting storylines the playoff teams hold as we start the chase for that elusive ring!

WESTERN CONFERENCE

San Antonio Spurs â€“ The Spurs led almost coast-to-coast out here in the West, but they need to watch themselves right now, as the team is currently not looking as dominant as they did en route to reaching 62 wins. They have big BIG outs in Bogut and Embiid, but after going on a 17-2 run earlier in the season, they’ve gone 3-6 to end the year. Either Leeroy is flat out messing with people’s heads as a tactician, or something’s up. We’re about to find out soon. 

Oklahoma City Thunder â€“ The Thunder climbed up from the 3^rd seed to overtake the Sacramento Kings in the final stretch of the season, reeeally close to the finish line, and now the hold the 2^nd seed. They were fortunate enough that the Kings were depleted by injuries and they dropped some games they maybe shouldn’t. They’re probably jumping for joy at the moment, as the league payed attention to the Houston Rockets rising up, OKC quietly did their work the right way. Kudos to GM Nenjabin for his work and depth! GS is on deck.

Sacramento Kings â€“ The Kings had a bit of a bad break with injuries, but they are a dangerous team. The team is excited to have Melo back, and possibly Reggie Jackson comes back to play a playoff series. Their main focus right now is getting healthy and starting working overtime in practice sessions to face one of the best tacticians in the game, in GM Greenmig and his Lakers. Bring out the white board!

Minnesota Timberwolves â€“ The Wolves are the team that lived through different moments in the season, including the realization that they couldn’t maybe win it all with the setup they had, and suffered and mini-major overhaul, but still managed to keep their healthy spot in the league, and perform well while setting the team up nicely for the future. PG13 needs to stop talking and worry about how he’s going to lead a team that a little bit younger against a team like Denver, who possesses great depth and playmakers all over!

Denver Nuggets â€“ The Nugs suffered a little bit of a reality check a well, when they maybe made one or two trades too many to a team that probably didn’t  need one, as they were rolling at a good pace. Looking from afar, though, it seemed like GM Rootsey wanted to be even more dangerous and deep, at the bench spots and the overall rating of the team. That he probably accomplished, but chemistry isn’t a stat or a number, and the Nugs will spend quite some time trying to reconnect and be in sync again.

Los  Angeles Lakers â€“ The Lakers will get D-Wade back! And that’s all that really matters if you’re a Laker fan. Any storyline that’s not this one perishes in comparison. Although there is one guy that shot up the ranks in Jordan Crawford. GM Greenmig outplayed everybody and ponied up the dough for a player people didn’t think much of, in fact, the T-Wolves didn’t have a place on the roster for him, and he’s tearing it up. LA keeps chugging along and are alive, once again when it counts. With Wade and Crawford, they could be very dangerous once again.

Golden State Warriors â€“ The Dubs held on after battling out for the last playoff spot in the West on a three team race! Their future looked bleak as they had a losing streak coming into week 20, but they found a way to hold on, kudos on the first appearance for GM MaiLo! The Dubs need to find a way to recover a bit of the mid-season magic that made them so dangerous, though.

Houston Rockets â€“ The comeback kids! Also deserving of kudos for his first time is rookie GM Vitticus! He made sure the Rockets never gave up and kept believing. With some lucky breaks along the way, this team posted an awesome winning stretch, to end the season on a high note and bumping Utah at the last minute. Anthony Davis awaits now!

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Philadelphia 76ers â€“ The Sixers are a well run franchise and once again hold the top seed in the East. A great  feat, as there was a nice end of the season battle for this #1 seed as well, however they are running a PF by committee situation as of now, and while that’s good for the regular season, they need Derrick Favors back for the playoffs. Will he though?

Milwaukee Bucks â€“ Bucks are happy for Westbrook’s record-breaking night on the other side of the multiverse and they even said that he’s to be difficult to be traded now, but was he ever easy to get? Lol They feature possibly the most athletic team in the league and the dark side is coming strong for the Chicago Bulls. Impressive season, Bucks!

New York Knicks â€“ The Knicks camp is reportedly very positive about their chances this season. Always fielding competitive teams time and again, management no longer accepts mediocrity or just competing so they went out and got another star in Dwight Howard to join the pre-existing duo. They look as strong as ever and Harden has taken his games to video game levels, in this case, literally. A great contender is chopping at the bit to take the court.

Cleveland Cavaliers â€“ The Cavs come into this one with the most complete player in the history of basketball, in my opinion, in Lebron James, and that fact makes them a contender everytime he steps on thecourt while in his prime. His 2k impact is flat-out ridiculous and the Cavs seems to have some healthy guys going in, so it’s gonna be fun to follow this team for yet another playoff run. Kudos on the season, also, GM Pistolpk

Boston Celtics â€“ The Celts had a nightmarish end to the season because they were the team that was most ravaged by injuries, with KD, Lowry as the main guys going down, and look at the irony, Brook Lopez was the healthy star of the team!! Oh how have the times changed! Lol In any case, Jmac is going to get his guys back in time to go at a good Cavs team and prove that if it weren’t for injuries, they would been much higher in the East. If that happens, look for the outspoken Jmac to comeback from his retreat  somewhere.

Brooklyn Nets â€“ The Nets made quite a few waves this season and GM Wiz has to be congratulated for a beautiful turnaround of a franchise left in shambles. Watching that happen was great! He traded Boogie and got two stars back to show for it and balance out his team, but now Eric Bledsoe is out and they lineup is out of whack again. They must correct that to have a chance to beat the Knicks.

Chicago Bulls â€“ The Bulls were one of the teams expected to end up as a top 10 lottery team in the preseason rankings, but their GM had other plans. Not holding his on pick, because they’d traded for Kevon Looney, Daz decided to go all-in on this season and put his plan to good use. This was the first season since I came in that it looked like there was a direction to this team, and that’s great! Being a three-point shooting team means that you have a chance of beating anybody on any given night, so that mentality and be ready!

Washington Wizards â€“ The Wizards made two trades that changed their season’s fate completely, and got younger and better in the process! Yes, that’s correct! Darko deserves credit for not giving up on the season and for straightening the team in time for a go at the East’s 8^th seed, and they got there following the Hornets poor form in the last weeks of the season. Now the Wizards got to face the top-seed as a reward for their efforts, and they look younger and have a higher ceiling going forward than any of the years I’ve been around. Good luck and nice job, Darko!

There you go, there are some of the things I saw for playoff teams and hopefully you guys enjoy it!

See you next time!