All NBA season long, the talk in the Eastern Conference was centered around both the Philadelhpia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. This was supposed to be both of their years and they were both dominant teams all season long, but neither team could get it done in the postseason! 

The Milwaukee Bucks took down the Brooklyn Nets in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series, sending the Bucks to their second Eastern Conference Finals in the last three seasons. Then the following day, the Philadelphia 76ers were stunned on their home court by the Atlanta Hawks, who are advancing to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2015. 

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Milwaukee was always that “third-wheel” in the Eastern Conference all season long that was great, but nobody ever seemed to pay much attention to seeing as they were shadowed by the 76ers and Nets, but the Hawks are a surprising team to be one of the last four teams standing in the league. 

After missing the NBA playoffs for three consecutive years, Atlanta was finally able to make the playoffs this year as the 5-seed in the East. Not much was expected from them given their lack of postseason experience, but this young team has proven that they can hold their own against anyone in this league and should definitely not be overlooked by the Bucks. 

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While Milwaukee did win the regular season series against Atlanta 2-1 this year, this Hawks team has grown a lot since then and they are definitely a much more balanced team. In fact, the last time these two teams met, Atlanta was without Trae Young and they were still able to win on their home court. 

This is going to be a much better NBA playoff series than many anticipate and while the Hawks are heavy “underdogs” right now, this series definitely has the potential to go the distance. Nobody thought the Bucks could take down the Nets and nobody thought the Hawks could take down the 76ers, but here we are, preparing for the Eastern Conference Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks!