10 Ways the NBA Playoffs Are Like <i>Mad Men</i>

With both Mad Men and the NBA season reaching their respective ends, how do the NBA playoffs compare to AMC's critical darling?

Image via USA Today Sports/AMC

With the seventh and final season of AMC's Mad Men now underway, fans of the show will finally begin to receive the closure that they've all been waiting for since the series began in 2007. A mess of questions and loose ends await Don Draper and his team at Sterling Cooper & Partners, as well as the entire cast of characters involved in Draper's personal life and troubled past. The public will be glued to their TVs every Sunday in anticipation of a fitting end to Draper's saga, and it doesn't seem likely that Matthew Weiner and his crew will disappoint. After all, why start now? 

However, Mad Men isn't the only thing that is beginning to wrap up in the world of entertainment, as we're also approaching the conclusion of the 2013-14 NBA season. With just a couple days left in the regular season, questions abound for the playoffs, mainly centered on what team will come out on top at the end of it all. Will the Miami Heat be able to pull off the three-peat, or will Kevin Durant and his Oklahoma City Thunder finally be able to get the ring they've been fighting for? Can the San Antonio Spurs maintain their dominance despite their age? What upsets, if any, await the top-tier teams? 

But more than anything, what has come to define the NBA this year is the turbulence of the league. LeBron James suddenly no longer looks invincible next to Durant's torrid scoring pace. The Heat will finish the regular season with their worst winning percentage since the Big Three was first formed. Nine different teams in the Western Conference have a serious claim to a playoff spot, while three playoff teams in the East struggle to break .500. Needless to say, it's going to be interesting to see how all of this shakes out in the postseason. 

Of course, Mad Men is no stranger to this sort of uncertainty either, but what other similarities can be drawn between AMC's critical darling and the NBA? They're more alike than you might think. Touching on fashion, advertising, fighting, and more, here are the 10 Ways the NBA Playoffs Are Like Mad Men.

RELATED: We Made It: "Mad Men" Rap Memes

Fashion Is a Must

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What Ever Happens, You Know Everybody Has A Lot Money to Go Home To

Coastal Focus

Separating the Real From the Frauds

Shifting Power Structure

What Have You Done for Me Lately?

The Fights Suck

The Best Stay on Top Despite the Issues

Mergers Rule

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