Many buzzer-beating, overtime-winning, gut-wrenching buckets and goals made games from the NBA and NHL seasons worth watching all over again. From ballers like Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokić to skaters like Matthew Tkachuck and Roope Hintz, players put on stellar performances when their teams needed a hero.
To start off, the NBA saw new teams rise to the top this season. The Denver Nuggets dominated the Western Conference with a 53-29 record. The team made history as Nikola Jokić helped the franchise to their first finals appearance. Jokić has cemented himself as one of the game’s
best centers of his time, putting up 29 triple doubles in the regular season.
The Boston Celtics ended the regular season with a 57- 25 record, leaving them in second place for the Eastern Conference. Celtics young star Jayson Tatum continued to establish his presence across the NBA, as he had a 3.2 shot average from 3-point range; he was top 5 in MVP voting this year. Tatum led the Celtics to an incredible 112-88 win in game 7 of the conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers. He made history after scoring 51 points– the most points to ever be made by a player in game 7. Jaylen Brown also made an impact as an All-Star with Tatum, and was voted the 2022- 23 Kia All-NBA Second Team.
The 76ers really disappointed fans in the playoffs, as MVP Joel Embiid and James Harden struggled to live up to their regular season performance. Their playoff run ended in a devastating defeat, and even led the Sixers to replace long- time head coach Doc Rivers with former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. Doc Rivers now has ten game 7 losses, the most of any NBA coach in history.
Another historic moment from this season happened the night of Feb. 7, 2023. LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time, regular-season scoring record of 38,387 points. The new record will likely stand for many years to come.
Throughout the regular season, the Miami Heat did not seem so special. However, everything changed as the playoffs rolled around.
Freshman Ethan Davis of Tinton Falls was especially excited about the Heat’s performance in the playoffs.
“Their stats are basically completely flipped from the regular season,” Davis said. “They were the worst team from 3-point during the regular season, and now they’re the best in the playoffs.”
From one exciting and unbelievable season to another, the NHL’s 2022-2023 season was nothing short of magical. Team after team blew away expectations as players made history. Fans across the nation were surprised by this season, and so were CHS students.
Sophomore Tanner Grigoli of Ocean was astonished by the New Jersey Devils making the second round this season due to their younger roster.
“The Devils are such a young team, and I think only a few of them have ever been to the playoffs,” Grigoli said. “It was really crazy to see them outplay the Rangers.”
Freshman Joseph Calabrese of Tinto Falls described their playoff appearance as “awful, absolutely awful. Maybe tell Panarin to show that he’s worth 11 million dollars.”
The Florida Panthers were another team that defied the odds this year, who just barely made the playoffs as a wild card 2 with 92 points.
On the other hand, the Boston Bruins had the greatest regular season in NHL history, with a 65-12 record and 135 points– surpassing the 1976-1977 Montreal Canadians, who had 132 points. On paper, the first round of the playoffs against the Panthers looked like an easy sweep for the Bruins on their quest for the greatest season in NHL history, however they would soon realize that was far from what would actually happen.
Throughout the first four games of the playoffs against the Florida Panthers, the Bruins had a 3-1 lead and were expecting an easy ending to the series at home. However, the Panthers didn’t give up, as they would win a gritty game five 3-2 in overtime. The Panthers then won 7-5 to force a game 7; with a minute left in the game, Brandon Montour scored the game-tying goal to send it to overtime. Then, Carter Verhage sealed the deal with the game-winning, series ending goal that completed what is arguably the greatest upset in NHL history.
“I never saw that coming,” Grigoli said. “Florida is really great this year though, but I didn’t think they’d have enough to take down the Bruins.”
The Panthers went on and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. They followed that up with a 4-0 series sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes, thanks to a goal with 4.9 seconds left in regulation by Matthew Tkachuk in game four, landing themselves a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals.
With teams like the Panthers and the Heat looking to make cinematic comebacks this season, it’s exciting to see how each of these playoffs are shaping up to be some of the best of recent years.
Fans have much more to be excited about, as these NBA and NHL 2022-2023 seasons mark a new beginning for basketball and hockey. Teams continue to bring so much more to the table. These games are changing– and one look at these seasons says everything.
