Young stars carry their teams in the NBA Western Conference playoffs
NBA legends and future Basketball Hall of Famers LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) and Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns) have been eliminated from the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Stephen Curry didn’t even make it that far as the Golden State Warriors’ season ended in the play-in tournament. It is the first time at least one of the three hasn’t been in the second round of the playoffs since 2005.
But a new crop of young players is ushering in the next generation of potential greats, led by 2024 NBA MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Gilgeous-Alexander, a 25-year-old guard, averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.5 rebounds this season lifting the Thunder to the top seed in the Western Conference (57-25). Eastern Conference powerhouse Boston Celtics (64-18) topped the entire league. His spectacular play has continued in the playoffs, where he’s averaged 27.3 points per game, propelling the Thunder to a four-game sweep over the New Orleans Pelicans to advance to the second round.
The Thunder, the second-youngest team in the league when the season began, will meet the winner of the series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers. It was tied at 2-2 heading into Game 5 in Los Angeles last night.
“When you take a step back, it’s very hard to beat an NBA team, no matter what NBA team, four times in a row,” said Gilgeous-Alexander after the Thunder’s 97-89 win on Monday.
“You have to do a lot of things right, and a lot of possessions, and there’s so many possessions in the game just to get one, and for a group of guys that I guess you can say we’re young and don’t have the most experience in winning basketball games,” he added.
In addition to Gilgeous-Alexander, Edwards, just 22-years-old, averaged 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists this season pushing the Timberwolves (56-26) to only one game behind OKC and Denver (57-25) in the final standings in the West. OKC held the tie-breaker over the Nuggets.
Edwards was even better in Minnesota’s first-round series against the Phoenix Suns, averaging 31 points per game, including a 40-point performance in game 4 in Phoenix in a 122-116 victory to blank the Suns 4-0. They will next battle the reigning NBA champion
Denver Nuggets in a West semifinals beginning on Saturday. The Nuggets defeated the Lakers 4-1 in the opening round.
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