The NBA playoffs have provided endless entertainment already and it is still only round one. Some first time playoff experience has provided a grand stage for players like Ja Morant and Trae Young while the regulars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant try to carve out their path as well. On the flip side, there have been duds as well. Here are the three biggest disappointments of the 2021 NBA Playoffs so far.
Miami Heat
It was a wildly quick stay in the postseason for the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler's squad entered the NBA playoffs with aspirations of making another run to an NBA Finals. This year, they ran into a brick wall in the Milwaukee Bucks.
As much credit as Milwaukee deserves for sweeping the Heat out of the postseason, as much blame should be given to Miami as well.
Game 1 went to overtime, leaving many to believe the series was ticketed to be a dandy. Instead, the Bucks won Game 2 by 34, Game 3 by 29 and Game 4 by 17.
The Heat looked lifeless after Game 1 and never posed even a realistic threat to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. Miami had a chance to climb up to the No. 4 or No. 5 seed at the end of the regular season but a loss to the Bucks slotted them at No. 6 and a date with Milwaukee.
The Bucks completely flipped the narrative from last year when Miami ousted Milwaukee in the bubble. It's fine to suggest or have had the idea that the Heat wouldn't win this series, they were underdogs for a reason. Them completely not showing up for three games and getting swept in four is a different story.
Miami's stay was as short as it gets, getting swept in four games and it was a disappointing end to a roller coaster ride of a season for the Heat.
Julius Randle
It has been tough watching the struggles of Julius Randle this postseason. The NBA's Most Improved Player award winner hasn't figured it out against the Atlanta Hawks yet in their series and the Knicks trial 3-1 as a result of it.
Article Continues BelowRandle had a tremendous regular season, one in which he set plenty of career high marks for himself on the offensive end. This postseason though has been one to forget for Randle.
The Knicks all-star shot 6-23 in Game 1, 5-16 in Game 2, 2-15 in Game 3, and 7-19 in Game 4. While he was much more aggressive and assertive in Game 4, the Knicks were pounded by the Hawks and the percentages for Randle in the NBA playoffs still left a lot to be desired.
New York was one of the best storylines in the regular season in the NBA as Tom Thibodeau helped guide his team to 41 wins in his first season as head coach. However, along with Randle, the Knicks have fallen flat on their face in the postseason and now will have to rip off three straight wins just to advance to the second round.
Washington Wizards
This needs to be prefaced by noting the 76ers are a wagon and expectations for a No. 8 seed against a No. 1 seed usually aren't to take them out. Still, the Wizards haven't shown a lot of resistance in this series.
Led by Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, the notion heading into the series from many was that the Wizards would push the 76ers in this NBA playoffs matchup. What has happened instead has been a fizzling display of basketball.
A lot of it is just how good the 76ers are and the MVP level that Joel Embiid has been playing at all year. The Bucks and Nets get a lot of the talk in the Eastern Conference as it pertains to winning the title this year, but Philly is every bit as ready to go as those two teams are.
The Wizards will try to avoid a sweep in the first round of the NBA playoffs and extend their season out a little longer.
They finished the regular season red hot and blew past the Pacers in the play-in tournament to earn the No. 8 seed. Not a whole lot of teams were playing a better brand of basketball than Washington entering the postseason. Chalk it up to a bad matchup, the 76ers being way too good or the Wizards running out of gas. Either route you take, it's been disappointing for the Wizards.
The good news is two of these three (Julius Randle, Wizards) still have an opportunity left to change the storylines and right the wrongs. The bad news is both Julius Randle and the Knicks and the Wizards are in deep holes.