After watching the highlights of the most recent events in the NBA Playoffs’ first round, I’ve learned a few things about the current pro basketball situation:
a) Either the Celtics were overrated or the Hawks are just that good
b) The Pacers didn’t make it…again
c) That Chris Paul guy is MVP material
d) I was right about Shaq and the Suns (and so was the rest of the world)
e) The Spurs are probably going to repeat
As much as I hate pro basketball, I can’t help but watch the playoffs because they’re, well, the playoffs. It would be a challenge to my manliness and fanhood to not watch, so I occasionally switch from hockey, baseball, football (of the non-American variety), fishing, golf, and Hannah Montana to check out whatever game is going on in the NBA.
This year’s playoffs actually started off pretty promising to me as I expected the Suns-Spurs series to go all the way to a seventh game where the Suns would have their vengeance for last year’s controversial knockout. Game 1 was a classic double-overtime thriller that fittingly ended down at the wire. From there, all I got was a 4-1 series win for the defending champs. Otherwise, you have total domination of the Lakers over the Nuggets, the Hornets stomping the Mavs (who still can’t believe that they actually traded for Jason Kidd), and a pretty good series between the Rockets and Jazz.
Over in the East, things are a mess with the Sixers surprising the Pistons in the Palace and the Celtics facing good competition from the Hawks. The Celts, who absolutely obliterated their competition this year, seem to be trying to follow in the footsteps of their nearby neighbor Patriots by being that unbelievably good team that loses to a much worse opponent when it matters most. They have, however, made amends by clobbering the Atlanta in Game 5, presumably to finish them off in Game 6 with authority. Apparently, the brass in Atlanta felt that they should celebrate the Hawks’ mediocrity by showering the court with streamers and confetti (hooray mediocrity!) after they won a close Game 4, only to be put back in their place in Boston. In other news, Orlando has mercifully finished off the Raptors, and the Wizards are busy trying to make their inevitable elimination by the Cavs take longer than necessary.
Quite honestly, I’m having a lot more trouble keeping up with the playoffs this year than I did last year, which says a lot. I’m not sure if it’s the Penguins running through the Sens and Rangers, the Cubs being off to their best start in God knows how long, or the awesome Champions League broadcasts on ESPN2, but something is taking my mind way away from the NBA. I guess if I was a fan of any of the teams that are any good (if being under .500 and in the playoffs qualifies you as being “good”) then I would be having a great time with watching pro basketball. But for me, I’m just stuck reminding myself not to watch ABC or ESPN between 7 and 10.
Tags: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080429/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/b, http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280430002, http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AvdoaoMcoHk50yxO
