Playoff Update – NBA Style

Now that three teams are into the second round, I'd feel a bit remiss about making predictions. Though, you know, in the NBA the real playoffs are supposed to start in the second round. But, really, the playoffs have been unfolding a lot like I thought they would. Namely, the disparity in quality in the East led to a lot of easy series. While the West has better teams but there's much less difference top to bottom so things would be closer over there.

I can't say I saw Golden State pushing Dallas to the brink (I've got one eye on the game as I type here, it's early but looks like Dallas isn't going out like that just yet) but I did think they'd give Dallas – probably the worst 60+ win team in recent memory – fits. When it became obvious that Nelson was all in Avery's head I started to believe and, like a lot of others, I don't think this series is getting past the next trip to Oakland. There's just no way the Mavs win in that place. The only real question at this point is whether Dirk can decline the MVP trophy or not. Because, wow.

Elsewhere in the West, I figured the Nuggets and the Lakers would steal a game or two from San Antonio and Phoenix respectively. Both are teams, though, that depend on their stars going off. For Denver, it's Melo (And, yes, as a Detroit fan, I still don't care what anyone says, I don't think Joe D should have taken him over Darko. I'm still not convinced he makes them better and, by now, I'm half convinced he makes them worse. Now, Wade...) and Iverson. When they're firing on all cylinders, the Nuggets are a lot to handle. The problem is that they're not in that sync all that often. Kobe, on the other, is always in that zone but it doesn't matter if he puts up 50 with the teammates he has, they're not going to be there consistently. And Utah/Houston looks to be going the distance, too. I kinda expected that.

Anyhow, with the way the brackets work and how flawed I think both Dallas and San Antonio are, I expected that we'd see one or more of them go down before the conference final. Leading to a Phoenix/Houston match-up. And, you know, I'm going to go nuts and say that's one that Houston has an outside chance at winning. The same thing is proving true with Golden State but Houston is a team that never really played at full strength during the regular season. When they did, they were scary and among the best teams in the league, you just wouldn't know it because it only lasted for five or ten games. But they're my dark horse to make it past the Western Troika of Dallas/San Antonio/Phoenix.

In the East, well, I never drank the Kool-Aid on Miami so I expected them to get beaten by Chicago. I wasn't expecting a sweep but I didn't think they were nearly as impressive as a lot of people. They were hoping to turn on the switch, again, (Which, I think, beyond rampant homerism is why I hate them so much. A lot like the Florida team, they just coasted through the regular season expecting to find another gear in the playoffs. It works, sometimes, but it's not something you can rely on.) but with Wade hurt it just wasn't going to happen. Washington didn't belong in the playoffs after Arenas got hurt so Cleveland whipping them isn't a surprise. Nor is the Magic being outmatched against the Pistons – even Darko having a pretty solid series wasn't a shock. And I thought going into the playoffs that the experience of New Jersey was going to get the best of Toronto and that looks to be the case. Dick move on the whole red jersey things though.

Anyhow, the brackets mean that Detroit is going to play Chicago in what's sure to be the defacto Eastern Conference final. Cleveland looks to have an easy road past the Nets but I don't think they're all that good, honestly, and they should be beaten by whoever comes out of Detroit/Chicago. My head says that's Chicago, my heart say its Detroit. I don't know at the moment but it's going to be fun to watch.