The lull of the regular season is finally over for basketball fans. Just a month after the amateurs stole the show in March Madness, it is time for the professionals to take center stage in the basketball world, and part one of this four-part has failed to disappoint. The NBA playoffs are just two games into the first round and the results have included a Rockets blastoff, Denver striking it rich in San Antonio and another Reggie Miller sighting—this time in Boston.
The explosion of the Houston Rockets has to be the biggest surprise in this very young playoff season. The Rockets have launched themselves out to a 2-0 lead over the heavily favored Dallas Mavericks. Experts on ESPN.com all had Dallas winning the series in five games, If Yao Ming can continue to dominate inside and Tracy McGrady maintains his current level of play on offense and defense, Houston will be the team walking away with a series victory in five.
Yao put up 33 points and got every Dallas post player in foul trouble early in game two while McGrady hit the game winning shot with only 2.2 seconds left and was just two rebounds shy of a triple-double. I wonder if Erick Dampier still thinks he is the best center in the Western Conference. The Dallas bench has also been force-fed a nice piece of humble pie as the combination of Mike James, Jon Barry, and Dikembe Mutombo has outplayed the likes of Keith Van Horn, Jerry Stackhouse, and Marquis Daniels.
Denver, who has been white-hot through the second half of the regular season, came into game one against the Spurs and simply took advantage of the hampered Tim Duncan, who admitted his injured ankle is only at about 75 or 80 percent. The combined toughness of Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, and Andre Miller really created fits for the Spurs, who were picked by most to win the title entering the playoffs.
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were held in check by Miller and Carmelo Anthony and, if Ginobili and Parker continue to struggle, that could spell good night for the Western Conference’s number-two seed. San Antonio must now just find a way to win in the mile-high air in Denver if they want to even consider getting to the second round, let alone reaching the NBA Finals.
Another shocker in this postseason really should not come as a surprise at all to basketball fans. The ageless Reggie Miller dropped 28 points and hit another clutch shot that virtually sealed the game for Indiana in Boston evening the series at 1-1 with the Celtics. Miller, who plans to retire at the end of the season, appears more youthful than ever as he thrives in the playoff atmosphere. Boston fans and New York fans can now finally agree on something: They hate Reggie Miller.
Experts around the league have been picking the Pacers to upset the Atlantic Division champions for two reasons: one, the Atlantic Division is the biggest joke in basketball, and two, the Pacers have the playoff experience and mental toughness to survive through whatever adversity they may encounter. Frankly, it isn’t hard to root for Indiana given the difficulties they have been battling all year. They have persevered through the suspension in the aftermath of the Detroit fiasco, as well as injuries to key players such as Jermaine O’Neal, Miller, and point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who is actually still out of the lineup. Reaching the second round will be like making the Finals for this depleted squad, which is sad considering they were among the contenders for the title before Ron Artest went into the stands.
The closest match up of this first round will undoubtedly come from the Chicago “Baby Bulls” fight with the Golden State Warriors…I mean Washington Wizards. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Larry Hughes—all former Warriors—create a trio that any team should fear. The Bulls, however, bring some explosive young talent to the court in Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, Kirk Hinrich, and Ben Gordon, who should be sixth man of the year. There will be no champion emerging from this series—this year, anyway—but these two squads could represent the future powerhouses of the NBA. Currently though, they will provide some exciting, high-flying basketball in this opening round matchup.
