The NBA playoffs have a way of humbling even the sharpest basketball minds, and The Ringer—arguably the best NBA coverage outlet around—just learned that lesson the hard way.

Back on April 16, when The Ringer dropped its NBA playoff preview, six staff writers submitted their Finals predictions. Add in podcast picks from heavy hitters like Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, and Joe House, and you get nine of the outlet's most prominent NBA voices making their championship calls. The result? Every single one picked either the Boston Celtics or Denver Nuggets to reach the Finals.

Howard Beck had the Nuggets over the Celtics. Michael Pina predicted Nuggets in seven. Danny Chau and Tyler Parker both went Nuggets over Celtics, with Parker calling a Thunder-Celtics Finals. Matt Dollinger took Celtics over Thunder, Isaac Levy-Rubinett went Nuggets over Pistons, and Zach Lowe picked OKC versus Boston. Bill Simmons, in his most recent take, expected Denver to face either Boston or New York. In a league defined by parity and unpredictability, that's a lot of eggs in two baskets.

But here's where things get messy. The Celtics, the East's No. 2 seed, fell in seven games to the seventh-seeded 76ers. The Nuggets, the West's No. 3 seed, were bounced in six by the sixth-seeded Timberwolves. Two teams that were supposed to be Finals locks are now watching from home, and The Ringer's predictions are officially toast before the second round even tips off.

Two picks did stray from the Celtics in the East—Levy-Rubinett had the Pistons, and House picked the Knicks. The Pistons are still alive heading into a Game 7 against the Magic, and the Knicks advanced to the second round to face the 76ers. But both of those predictions paired them with the Nuggets in the West, who are already eliminated. So those picks are just as dead as the rest.

To be fair, The Ringer isn't alone here. The Celtics were a consensus Finals contender, and the Nuggets were a popular West pick behind the reigning champion Thunder. In a season where upsets have become the norm, even the best analysts can get burned. But for an outlet that's made NBA coverage the centerpiece of its editorial identity, having all nine Finals predictions go up in smoke before the second round is a reminder that in basketball, the only certainty is uncertainty.