State of the Playoffs Address

First Round Provides Stunning Series

Last second heroics, rim shattering slam dunks, flying mouth guards, and a Clippers playoff victory and that’s only in the first week of the NBA postseason.  The 2006 NBA playoffs were built up to be the emergence of a “King,” the “Diesel’s” last go around (hopefully), Los Angeles’ one man show, and the unfortunate vindication of playing team basketball.  The first round definitely did not disappoint this year.
Eastern Conference

The number one seed Detroit Pistons had the luxury of playing a 5-game scrimmage against the 8th ranked Milwaukee Bucks.  The Pistons took a very workman-like attitude and made easy work of defeating the Bucks 4 – 1 in what was by far the East’s least competitive series.  This series was also placed on the back burner by the media, having only two out of five games played on a major television network.  The lack of star appeal on the Pistons roster and the lack of talent on the Bucks roster made this first round match up quite drab.  The Pistons move on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round.

An airborne mouth piece, a full body check, and a heated argument, sounds like a Philadelphia Eagles team meeting.  But no, not this time, these were some of the events of the first round series between the two seed Miami Heat and the seven seed Chicago Baby Bulls.  The Miami Heat came out of the gates strong at home defeating the Bulls in games one and two; unfortunately the game one victory was tainted by a flying projectile.  Heat forward Udonis Haslem, upset by a non-call, removed his mouth guard from his mouth and threw it in the direction of official Joey Crawford.  Causing Crawford to eject Haslem and forcing the league to suspend him for one game.  Once the series returned to Chicago, the Baby Bulls showed that they were in the playoffs for a reason.  The sharp shooting of guards Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and Andres Nocioni carried the Bulls to victories in games three and four.  But not only did the Heat lose the games in Chicago, they also lost their composure.  Nothing seemed to go right for the Heat while in the Windy City.  Shaquille O’Neal seemingly received fouls just for being huge while Dwyane Wade still suffered from home town anxiety.  Also, towards the end of game three, Heat forward James Posey charged down court and performed a flying shoulder tackle on Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich.  Hinrich went crashing to the floor and Posey picked up an ejection and a one game suspension.  Game four also provided a very public spat between Heat guards Gary Payton and Dwyane Wade.  Wade and Payton exchanged words on the court and took their fued to the Heat huddle where head coach Pat Riley somehow ignored the argument going on around him.  Through it all, the Miami Heat did what they were supposed to do, defeating the Bulls 4 – 2.  The Heat moves a step closer to the conference finals and will take on the New Jersey Nets in round two.

We’re all witnesses.  That is LeBron James’ new marketing slogan, but I couldn’t find a more fitting statement to describe how I feel when I watch LeBron James play basketball.  I, along with every other person who watched the Cleveland – Washington series, feel like they were witnessing the rise of the NBA’s new dominant phenom.  In his first ever playoff experience, LeBron did what few before him have been able to do.  King James put up a triple double in game one, two 40-point surges in games three and five, and led the Cavaliers to their first playoff series victory in eight years.  Averaging 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists made fans wonder if LeBron James had been here before.  The 21-year old James took on the 5th seed Washington Wizards in a very competitive series.  The Wizards came into this series looking to hand LeBron his first dose of NBA postseason reality.  Washington’s big three of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antoine Jamison put on an offensive exhibition, averaging 71.7 points combined throughout the series.  The Wizards’ fast paced tempo and high scoring tendencies presented many problems for the Cavs.  This series went back and forth with each team alternating victories for the first four games.  With the series tied 2 – 2, LeBron amazed us once again in game five by winning it on a last second drive to the basket, lifting himself and his team to higher heights.  Ostensibly maturing before our very eyes by exuberating poise and dominance LeBron James solidified his place in NBA postseason lore.  It can also be said that the ultimate demise of the Wizards was their more than porous defense and lack of defensive effort.  Washington allowed Cleveland to score 101.1 points per game and shoot 46% from the field.  The Cavs won the series 4 – 2 and now move on to face the Detroit Pistons in round two.

This is the part of the article where I would write about the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets series.  But unfortunately, they received less primetime channel treatment than the Pistons – Bucks series did.  Nets win the series 4 – 2 in a competitive match up… I guess…

Western Conference

The best series that the Western conference had to offer this year was the 2nd seed Phoenix Suns versus the 7th seed Los Angeles Lakers.  The Suns and Lakers series was my initial pick to be the best first round series, so kudos to me.  This series was all that it was cooked up to be.  There were fights, last second shots, chokehold takedowns, ejections, suspensions, Kobe passing the ball, and to top it all off there was a Pat Burke sighting (who?).  This series, the only one to go the full seven games, captured the interest of NBA fans of all creeds.  There was fast paced offense for the new generation, there was textbook play for the traditionalists, there were last second heroics for the adrenaline freaks, and there was physical play for the Charles Oakley’s of the world.  Phoenix was set to handle the Lakers with their fast paced offense and depth, but the “Zen Master” had other plans.  

Phil Jackson devised a genius game plan that would negate the speed of the Suns.  Go inside to Kwame Brown.  Whoa.  The Lakers pounded the ball inside and used their size and strength to bully the Suns.  After losing game one, the “Kobe Show” turned into the “everybody but Kobe” show.  The Lakers won the next three games by pounding the ball down low and getting key contributions from the likes of Luke Walton, Brian Cook, and Sasha Vujacic.  Kobe took on a more passive roll in the offense and did all of the little things to make his teammates better.  The 81-point man only averaged 23.3 points throughout the three Lakers wins, but dished out 5.8 assists and snagged 6.7 rebounds.  The Lakers overtook the series 3 – 1 with controlled play and a last second shot by the 81-point man in game four.  With a new scheme and a new Kobe the Lakers seemed to be sitting pretty.  Game five belonged to the Suns.  Phoenix was able to speed the game up and force the Lakers to run.  But with the game in hand, Suns guard Raja Bell put a chokehold takedown on Kobe Bryant.  Bell, who had been complaining about receiving elbows to the face from Bryant, was ejected from the game and was suspended for game six.  After a brief verbal joust through the media, Kobe and Raja took there feud back to the hardwood in game seven.  Ultimately and unfortunately this series came to a very pitiful end.  The Suns obliterated the Lakers in game seven and move on to face the Los Angeles Clippers in round two.

The defending champion San Antonio Spurs took on the 8th ranked Sacramento Kings in the first round.  This series turned out to be better than I thought it was going to be.  The Spurs charged out of the blocks and blew out the Kings 122 – 88 in game one.  Just when the brooms loomed, Sacramento came out with a very strong performance in a 2-point loss in game two followed by victories in games 3 and 4.  Spearheading the Kings’ charge was forward Bonzi Wells.  Wells dominated opposing defenders with his tough inside play and deceptive shooting range.  Bonzi averaged 23.2 points and 12.0 rebounds.  With the series tied at two, and a new star in Bonzi Wells things did not look as concrete as they once did for the reigning champs.  False alarm.  The Spurs took care of business and got things back on track, defeating the Kings 4 – 2 and now gear up for an epic battle with the Dallas Mavericks.

The Denver Nuggets were one of my choices for “team to watch.”  Unfortunately, I did watch them.  The Los Angeles Clippers, making their first playoff appearance since 1996, came out and made the Nuggets look completely undeserving of a number four seed.  Elton Brand, Sam Cassell, and Chris Kaman (who received a complimentary prostate exam) are trying to rewrite the abysmal tales of Clippers history.  They took a very convincing first step by defeating the Nuggets 4 – 1.  This series was never competitive; Carmello Anthony and Andre Miller couldn’t get into their groove and had relatively nothing to offer to Denver.  Only averaging 21.0 points per game and shooting 33% made Carmello a non-factor.  The Clippers will take on the Phoenix Suns in round two.  I have a feeling they might take a few pages from their neighbors’ book and try to pound the Suns.

My Western conference championship pick Dallas Mavericks were the only team to sweep their first round opponent this year.  Now who were they playing again?  Oh yeah, the Memphis “whatchamacallits.”  Dallas ran through the Memphis Grizzlies defeating them by an average of 14 points.  Dirk Nowitzki led the charge of now defensive minded Mavs to the second round where they will clash with the San Antonio Spurs, which should prove to be an instant classic of a series.

Round 2

After all of the hype and hoopla that was the first round of the NBA playoffs, I just hope that the second round will provide as much excitement and drama as the first.