After a long and difficult five months, which included a brief period with calls for the league to suspend play over a rising number of COVID-19 casts, the 2020-21 NBA season has reached the playoffs. And unlike last summer, there's no bubble this time around. Games will be in home arenas, with fans in attendance. Something at least close to normalcy has arrived.
On the court, we have already seen a number of surprises as the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in the first round in six games after an injury to Anthony Davis essentially swung the series in Phoenix's direction. The upstart New York Knicks were knocked off by the No. 5 seed Atlanta Hawks as Trae Young began his postseason career in a masterful way and now will face the top-seeded 76ers. Also, the Brooklyn Nets looked like the juggernaut they've been built up to be by dispatching the Boston Celtics without much trouble and will now meet the Milwaukee Bucks after Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co., swept the Heat. The Utah Jazz have punched their ticket to the Western Conference semifinals where they will meet either the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks as those two teams are headed to a Game 7 on Sunday to decide who advances from that series.
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Our experts did their best to predict what's going to happen. Here's a look at their picks for every single series, and their eventual champion:
First-round picks
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI-WAS |  | | | | | | | |
| BKN-BOS |  | | | | | | | |
| MIL-MIA |  | | | | | | | |
| NY-ATL |  |  | | | | | | |
| UTA-MEM |  | | | | | | | |
| PHO-LAL |  | | | | | | |  |
| DEN-POR |  |  | | | | | | |
| LAC-DAL |  | | | | | | | |
