I said it last year too--the playoff ball you want to be watching is not in the "Ultra Competitive West." No, your eyes should be glued to every Eastern Conference game.
To be fair, the regular season did not offer much by way of drama if you were an East Coast team aficionado. The top three teams were all separated by more than two games, and Cleveland (1) finished a full 7 games ahead of Orlando (3). The next closest team, Atlanta (4) was a full twelve games behind Orlando and 19 games behind first place Cleveland. Let's put that in perspective. This means that if they had wanted to, Cleveland could have simply not played the last quarter of the season and still have finished fourth in the conference!
The bottom four teams, while closer in regular season record where all more or less equally inconsistent, while the bottom three finished by breaking even (Chicago and Philly) or with a loosing record (Detroit). Again, let's put a little perspective to this. If they played in the Western Conference, only the top three teams in the East would even have made the playoffs.
For 82 games, the West was where it was at. With the exception of the Lakers (1), all the playoff teams finished with a nearly identical record. Denver, Portland, and San Antonio (2,3,4) all finished the season trailing the Lakers by 11 games while the number five seed, Houston, was only a game behind them. And the bottom three, Dallas, New Orleans, and Utah, were each separated by a single game. Final playoff seeding wasn't decided until the last day of regular season play. It was great fun to watch it all unfold.
But in retrospect, the drama built up to a rather disappointing climax. So far, on the Portland/Houston series has ended up being even remotely interesting, but Houston has the opportunity to close things out in six games on their home court tomorrow (Thursday). As for the other series in the UCW (Ultra Competitive West), the Lakers beat up the Jazz in five, Dallas finished off San Antonio last night in five, and tonight Denver will very likely complete their humiliation of New Orleans who tied an NBA record for biggest loosing margin in a playoff game when they lost their last game by a staggering 58 points. Let's be clear... this is anything but ultra competitive.
But if you've been keeping up with exciting playoff basketball, you know where the good ball is at. First off, Orlando was supposed to pound Philadelphia. Not so much. Philly has managed to grab two games in the series (one in Orlando) and they are set up nicely to go seven games. So is every other Eastern Conference match up unless you had the miss fortune of being the Detroit Pistons who were unmercifully swept from the first round by the Cavs after having reached the conference finals each of the past seven years. The Hawks/D-Wade series has been hugely entertaining. One of them will go up by a game tonight and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one comes down to game seven too. But by far the best basketball at this point in the season is the Bulls/Celtics series. Right now the Celtics are up 3 games to two, but four of the five games have been decided by three points or less. Three of the games have gone into overtime including one double overtime classic where everyone was hitting the clutch three pointer. Ray Allen has been an assassin. Rajon Rondo has been a beast. Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose tied Kareem Abdul Jabbar for most points scored in a rookie's playoff debue (36). Brad Miller came away from last nights game with a bloody mouth inflicted on the last play. Of course it will really depend on how this series ends, but so far it rivals the 2006 first round clash between Dallas and Golden State for most entertaining playoff series in recent history, and to be honest, I'll be disappointed if this game goes to seven games because I wish it could go nine.
But for all the hype, disappointment, and unexpected East Coast drama this year's playoffs will undoubtedly end in futility for everyone not named Lakers or Cavs. Unless the basketball gods have some kind of sick sense of humor, they will be the only two teams left standing in June. Until then, I'm watching the Ultra Competitive East.
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