Hear me out..."Take that for data!"

Last year around this time I was working on a column declaring the first round of the NBA Playoffs officially dead. Most of the series from last season were on the verge of sweeps but things turned around and it became interesting.

The first round of the 2017 playoffs has been incredible and could have been even better if not for Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s injury. There are intriguing matchups...