Every series has been decided by which team has the bigger market. Boston > Toronto LAL > Houston Miami > Milwaukee Miami > Indiana Boston > Philadelphia (injured Ben Simmons) Denver > Salt Lake City Los Angeles Clippers > Dallas Houston > Oklahoma City Los Angeles Lakers > Portland Toronto > Brooklyn Portland > Memphis Only exception would be Milwaukee > Orlando, but it's close, and was a 1 vs an 8 seed. So far it's been a "TV Playoffs". Given how the refs have been known to be "company men" when it comes to calling games, really not surprised at this outcome, but still it's pretty egregious. Let's predict the rest of the playoffs then: Miami Boston could go either way, but I think the world is tired of Boston and the NBA wants to see Jimmy Butler advance. Plus, I think the NBA wants to guarantee LeBron his title, so they probably think Miami is the lower-ranked easier team to beat. (I'm not so sure, but refs have lots of power) Lakers will beat Denver Lakers will probably beat Clippers. Kawhi just isn't that marketable, and the NBA already has given him enough sugar from last year when the Golden Children were all banged up (Shoulda been Philly but Philly's owner is a dipshit). Los Angeles > Boston OR Miami LeBron is built up as a legend even tho he's made a career of choking in the big games, and that sells future tickets. In my book, LeBron only has one legit chip, and I didn't see those playoff series that year so might be better than that. NBA was determined to not let Spurs win that one year, and they blatantly fixed the 2016 series with the Draymond Green suspension (and Andrew Bogut injury was a big factor in the final 2 games). But this year has been all about LeBron, and I don't see that failing to continue barring injury to him or brow.