Winners and Losers From the First Two Rounds of the NBA Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs is finally down to their final four teams, making it an acceptable time to take a look at some of the winners and losers from this postseason.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers could all be marked as winners for now, as they’re the four teams remaining in the conference finals that will take place over the next two weeks.

But not every team was as fortunate as those four. Yet still, there are some silver linings to be found throughout the postseason. Let’s take a look at winners and losers throughout the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs.

Winner: Donovan Mitchell

After defeating the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Mitchell has secured a conference finals berth for the first time in his career.

It wasn’t easy. The Pistons took the Cavs to Game 7 after Mitchell no-showed on Cleveland’s home court in Game 6. After the game, he called it a learning lesson. The series prior, the Cavaliers found themselves on the ropes in Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors, but were able to escape that series following the heroics of Jarrett Allen.

Mitchell is the engine behind the first Cavaliers team without LeBron James to make the Eastern Conference Finals since 1992. He now has an opportunity to face his hometown New York Knicks to punch a ticket to the NBA Finals.

Loser: Houston Rockets

The Rockets were without Kevin Durant for much of their first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.

But the Lakers were without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for much of that series, leaving 41-year-old LeBron James to discard the Rockets by himself. Even before Houston landed Durant, many expected the Rockets to be a young team on the rise. That’s probably no longer the case, especially after being dismantled by James and the Lakers.

On top of that, the Lakers were swept in Round 2 by the Thunder in a relatively uncompetitive series, further proving the Rockets were pretenders this postseason.

Winner: Indiana Pacers

What? How could the Pacers be considered a winner? They finished the season as one of the worst teams in basketball and didn’t even get to keep their draft pick to show for it.

But they’re winners because of how wide open this Eastern Conference is. Next year, the Pacers will return Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles tendon) and pair him with Pascal Siakam and new big man Ivica Zubac. There’s no reason for the Pacers to not be a top five seed.

Loser: The future of Boston basketball

Get ready to learn tough sledding, Celtics fans.

It feels like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are headed towards some sort of divorce. If the Celtics trade one of their superstars, they’ll get a nice haul. The issue? That doesn’t guarantee anything anymore in today’s NBA.

Even if the Celtics decide to stick with Tatum and Brown together, things get explosive quickly if they fail to meet expectations again.

Winner: Youthfulness

Look at the four teams remaining. Outside of James Harden, it’s a young man’s league.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just won his second straight MVP and is the betting favorite to win back-to-back titles. Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is three wins away from playing in his first NBA Finals at just 22, which should scare the entire league.

Mitchell, Allen and Evan Mobley are all yet to turn 30. Karl-Anthony Towns just turned 30, but Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges are still hanging onto their 20s still, too.

The biggest storyline this offseason will be what happens with LeBron, but these playoffs are proof that it’s a young man's league.