Kevin Durant and the Thunder have dethroned the Mavericks. Their next battle will likely be the Lakers. Photo courtesy Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
We’re about to head into another week of the NBA playoffs and get that much closer to this year’s champion. With this shortened season, we’ve been given a lot of things to consider. Things like: Should we make this shorter season a permanent thing? Is Michael Jordan failing as an owner as much as he succeeded as an athlete? Semi-petty stuff like that.
Here are some things that have crossed my mind during this beginning of the playoffs pro basketball…
Missing the Jordan Era in CHI Town
I hope Bulls fans are still high off the six rings Jordan got them, because it appears they’ll be going another year without a seventh. First they lost Derrick Rose, then they lost Joakim Noah. To add insult to injury, in their wake yesterday, Carlos Boozer seemed to play with a basketball IQ that rivaled JaVale McGee. Now, facing elimination, their hopes of making it past the first round might be next.
Coming into the postseason, the Sixers were a nice, surprising story, but one most people should’ve expected to end rather quickly. Instead, they find themselves one win away from eliminating a major Eastern power. I don’t know how deep the Sixers can go, but right now they should just be worried about winning the fourth game against Chicago.
Thunder Up – OKC is For Real
Somewhere Mark Cuban is crying into 100-dollar-bill tissues and it’s Kevin Durant’s fault. Okay, he doesn’t deserve all the credit, but for all the buzz Kobe and LeBron are getting in this postseason, is it actually possible Durant is STILL flying under the radar?
The Thunder didn’t just eliminate the defending-champion Mavericks, they eliminated them in a way that rivaled the way Oklahoma trounced Texas in this past season’s Red River Rivalry. Needless to say, it’s another heavy blow for the Lone Star state. Oh, and remember how we were all worried about James Harden after that blow from Arte–erm…World Peace? Yeah, his 29 points in the decisive game proves he’s more than alright.
A Lack of Good Series
If I had to rank the postseasons of our four major sports, the NBA would probably be dead last. And this year’s opening round hasn’t given me any reason to change my mind. Oklahoma City swept the defending champions, the Spurs are up 3 games to 0 on the Jazz, and 5 of the 6 other series are already at 3-1 splits with a possible Game 5 elimination. The Clippers-Grizzlies series, the sixth series, can also join that club if Los Angeles wins tonight.
In fact, Los Angeles-Memphis has probably been the best series so far, and it features the GRIZZLIES. To clarify, Memphis gets me about as fired up as a Mount Everest base camp. Needless to say, I’m not too impressed. If someone is finding it tough to decide between the Stanley Cups Playoffs and the NBA Finals, the NBA is making it increasingly easy on them.
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