(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Boston Celtics
The Cavs ousted the Celtics in four straight games, but Game 4 did not come without drama. Jae Crowder was amid the majority of it and was eventually taken out of the game after being struck in the face by J.R. Smith. He also got into it with former Celtic Kendrick Perkins, who set a vicious screen on the forward. After the series, it was also determined that Crowder sprained his ACL in the game. J.R. Smith received a two game suspension for his actions, but the Cavs will also be without Kevin Love for the foreseeable future. He was not only ruled out for the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but Cavaliers' General Manager David Griffin implied that he may be lost for the rest of the season after dislocating his shoulder fighting for a loose ball. Kelly Olynyk was the culprit and will be suspended for opening night of next season. In the meantime, the Cavs await the winner of the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks as they prepare for life without Love.
Series MVP- LeBron James
X-Factor- Timofey Mozgov
(3) Chicago Bulls vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks not only avoided a sweep, but also managed for force a Game 6 back at their place after defeating the Bulls 94-88 on the road. Jason Kidd's young Bucks outscored the Bulls in three of the four quarters and got a big-boy performance out of Michael Carter-Williams. MCW scored a team-high 22 points and approached a triple-double with nine assists and eight rebounds. But it was a complete team win for the Bucks who received key contributions from every player. As for the Bulls, a couple of zeroes from roll players proved to be detrimental. More importantly, Chicago shot just 18 percent from long distance, including an 0-for-7 performance from Derrick Rose. Rose has been the MVP of the series, but will now be tasked with rallying his team on the road to close out the series and avoid a Game 7.
Series MVP- Derrick Rose
X-Factor- Khris Middleton
(1) Atlanta Hawks vs. (8) Brooklyn Nets
The Nets managed to even up the series in Game 4 behind 35 points from Deron Williams. Williams, who has received criticism for his underperformance in the series, actually forced a fan to eat a mailbox key after the fan bet he would not score over 30 points in the game. But D-Will was, again, unable to hit the final shot of regulation as the Hawks forced overtime. The Nets would pull it out and were guided by big performances from Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson. The Hawks, however, were no slouches in Game 4 and got 20-point performances out of DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Teague, who had a double-double. But they will need to tighten up on defense and likely get a big scoring outburst from an unsung hero to turn the tables. Home court advantage will continue to play a big factor in the series.
Series MVP- Brook Lopez
X-Factor- Jarrett Jack
(4) Toronto Raptors vs. (5) Washington Wizards
Embarrassing. The Raptors were simply terrible in this series and Kyle Lowry led the way. Arguably the best player on the team, Lowry struggled with foul trouble throughout the series and averaged just 12.3 points per game and 4.8 assists per game in four contests. In what was sure to be a seven-game series, the Wizards completed the first series sweep in team history and are now just one of three teams awaiting their opponent for the Conference Semifinals. As the Wiz Kids enjoyed front-row seats to a Game 7 win for the Washington Capitals, the Raptors should be considering letting go of head coach Dwane Casey, who is now 3-7 in two playoff appearances with the team. Each appearance came in the past two seasons-the only winning seasons in Casey's career.
MVP- John Wall
X-Factor- Paul Pierce