NBA Playoffs: Breaking down a star-studded Round 2

Steph vs.LeBron. Celtics vs. 76ers. Knicks vs. Heat. Jokic vs. Durant.

Big names.Big rivalries. The NBA has gotten a starry second-round slate, withStephen Curry and Golden State set to meet LeBron James and the LosAngeles Lakers, along with Philadelphia taking on Boston in therenewal of a rivalry between two of the best sports cities in thecountry.

Alreadyunderway in Round 2:Miamivs. New York, another matchup with tons of past playoffhistory, and aDenver-Phoenixseriespitting two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of theNuggets against past MVP Kevin Durant of the Suns.

There arefour of the nation’s top six television markets — No. 1 New York,No. 2 Los Angeles, No. 4 Philadelphia and No. 6 San Francisco —still in the playoffs. Boston is No. 10, Phoenix No. 11, Denver No.16 and Miami No. 18.

Most of thebiggest jersey-sellers in the league are still in the race for atitle. James’ jerseys sell the most, based on rankings atNBAStore.com, followed by Curry at No. 2 and Boston’s Jayson Tatumat No. 3. Durant has the sixth most-popular jersey right now,Phoenix’s Devin Booker is No. 7, and Jokic, Philadelphia’s JoelEmbiid, Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Golden State’s Jordan Poole arein the top 15 as well.

And one lastbit of proof of the star power these teams have — the top fourteams in the NBA’s most recent merchandise-sale rankings right noware the Lakers, Warriors, Celtics and Suns.

WHAT'SNEXT?

Monday’s schedulehas Denver trying to protect home-courtand seeking a 2-0 lead over Phoenix in their Western Conferencesemifinal series. In the Eastern Conference, a semifinal matchupbetween No. 2 Boston and No. 3 Philadelphia — the two highest seedsleft on that half of the bracket — gets underway.

On Tuesday,it’s Game 2 of Miami-New York, and Game 1 of the Warriors-Lakersmatchup.

HOW TOWATCH?

— The76ers-Celtics and Suns-Nuggets games on Monday are on TNT, as areTuesday’s Heat-Knicks and Lakers-Warriors matchups. The Tuesdaydoubleheader will be preceded by the announcement of this season’sMVP at 7 p.m. Eastern, also on TNT.

— Wednesday’s76ers-Celtics game is on TNT.

— Thursday’sLakers-Warriors game is on ESPN.

— Teambroadcasters will no longer air games. Everything after the firstround is exclusive to national windows and not available for localtelecasts.

— The NBAFinals on ABC begin June 1.

ONE OFEACH

As the NBA pointedout,there is one of each seed — a No. 1 (Denver), No. 2(Boston), No. 3 (Philadelphia), No. 4 (Phoenix), No. 5 (New York),No. 6 (Golden State), No. 7 (the Lakers) and No. 8 (Miami) seedleft in the playoffs.

That’s neverhappened in this 16-team format that dates back to 1984.

Looking aheadto the NBA Finals, Boston or Philadelphia would have home-courtadvantage over anyone else. Denver would have it over New York orMiami. New York would have it over Phoenix, Golden State and theLakers. Phoenix would have it over Miami. And the Heat —unbelievably, as an 8 seed — would have it over the Warriors orLakers.

Miami andGolden State both won 44 games and split their head-to-head. Butthe Heat had a better record over the opposing conference, so theywould win that tiebreaker.

AWARDWINNERS

The NBA isready to hand out the MVP trophy. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid,Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo or Denver’s two-time reigning MVPNikola Jokic will be announced on Tuesday as the winner of theleague’s top individual award.

A recap ofthis season’s awards revealed thus far:

— April17:Memphis’Jaren Jackson Jr. won Defensive Player of the Year.

— April18:De’AaronFox of Sacramento won the inaugural Clutch Player award.

— April19:Sacramento’sMike Brown became the first unanimous Coach of the Year.

— April20:Boston’sMalcolm Brogdon won Sixth Man of the Year.

— April24:Utah’sLauri Markkanen was the easy winner of Most ImprovedPlayer.

— April25:Orlando’sPaolo Banchero was a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year.

QUOTABLE

“Hopefully,we never find out.” — Golden State’s Stephen Curry, when asked whatcan stop him, in a postgame news conference following his Game7-record 50-point effort at Sacramento on Sunday.