When we looked back last December at the state of the sports world in 2020, we could only marvel at a bizarre juxtaposition: While the COVID-19 pandemic created the strangest year of sports in anybody’s memory, the winners of the major sports were about as predictable as could be. Across the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, […]
Welcome to the 2021-22 NBA season, folks! And welcome back to FiveThirtyEight’s NBA forecast, which is based on our RAPTOR player ratings. Before we get into the results of this year’s model and how our forecast sees the battle to dethrone the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks playing out, let’s quickly address a few of the […]
It’s hard to imagine a multitime MVP, 7-foot ball-handler who has barriers to overcome. But Giannis Antetokounmpo did. He entered the 2020-21 playoffs with questions about his postseason performance after series losses to the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and Miami Heat in 2020, when he averaged 22.7 and 21.8 points per game, respectively. But winning […]
For the first time in 50 years, the Milwaukee Bucks are NBA champions. In capturing the franchise’s first title since the days of Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge and Lew Alcindor, the Bucks came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Phoenix Suns in four consecutive games, capping a magnificent run during which they conquered […]
In Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday finally got himself a splashy stat line and signature moment to match those of his co-stars. On Saturday night, as the Bucks took a 3-2 series lead after clawing their way out of a 2-0 hole, Holiday tallied 27 points, four rebounds, 13 […]