The intense and excitement is in the air as spring rises which only means the NBA playoffs are going on.
The first round Game 1s brought surprises across the board as the Chicago Bulls witness their Most Valuable Player, Derrick Rose, go down in the late minutes against the Philadelphia 76ers with a torn ACL.
The costly injury to Rose has changed the picture in the Eastern Conference playoffs as the Bulls are close to zero percent to win the NBA championship this year.
The clear favorite to come out of the East is now the Miami Heat as it has been tearing up the New York Knicks with a 33-point win in Game 1.
The Knicks have felt the frustration with their 12 game losing streak in the playoffs as Amar'e Stoudemire punched the glass window of a fire extinguisher after the Game 2 loss.
The Boston Celtics are still hanging around as they were able to split the first two games against the Atlanta Hawks as the series heads back to Boston.
The Celtics are still showing they are capable of competing as Paul Pierce led the team to the victory as the team was without its starting guards, Rajon Rondo (who is serving a suspension) and Ray Allen (who has been out with an ankle injury).
In the last series in the East, the Orlando Magic are playing without its superstar center, Dwight Howard, as it has split the first two games with the Indiana Pacers as the series heads back to Orlando.
The Pacers are a young team as they were able to surprise the league this season with an impressive start but the team is inexperience in the postseason and winning the series against the Magic will be an accomplishment for Indiana.
Now the excitement swifts West as the playoff series in the Western Conference has been amazing as always.
The San Antonio Spurs came out swinging and dominating throughout the season as they were able to lock up the top spot in the West and draw a first round match against the Utah Jazz.
The Spurs are gliding through the Jazz and the series is looking to be one-sided and the Spurs will eventually end it in four.
The up and coming Los Angeles Clippers made a big impression in Game 1 versus the Memphis Grizzles as the Clippers were able to come back from 21 points and beat the Grizzles on the road.
The Grizzles have the edge in the series as they made noise last postseason with their first round upset against the Spurs, but with the task of beating the Clippers and Zack Randolph trying to come back from an early season injury, the Grizzles will have a tough time getting passed the Clippers.
The other Los Angeles team, the Lakers, have had their doubts from critics throughout the season but the Lakers are looking great as the postseason moves along.
The Lakers are being pulled by Andrew Bynum, who had a triple double in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets, and Kobe Bryant, who had 38 points in Game 2 against the Nuggets, and at the same time the Lakers offense is looking solid as the defense is impressive.
The Lakers aren't the clear favorites in the West but they are making it known that they are out to kill and win another NBA championship.
The Lakers are deadly with a healthy Bryant, a dominating Bynum, a skilled Pau Gasol and a supporting cast of talented players such as Ramon Sessions, Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, Metta World-Peace, Devin Ebanks and Jordan Hill.
The last series in the West is between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the defending champion, Dallas Mavericks, the series looks like last year's second playoff series against the Mavericks and Lakers as the first two games could have went either way.
The Thunder lead the series 2-0 at the moment but the first two games have been so close that the Mavericks could have been leading 2-0 right now or at least the series could have been heading back to Dallas tied at one.
The Mavericks are not done yet in the series but they have to find a way to hold late leads because this series can easily go seven games and it would not be a surprised if Dallas wins the series.
The first games of round one have been finalized and it is only the beginning so as the first rounds play out and the postseason continues, the intense and excitement will rise to new stressful levels for the NBA fans.
And on a side note, the Lakers and Heat will be the teams to meet in this year's NBA finals as the Lakers edge the Heat for the championship in seven games.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The NBA Year One : After Lockout
NBA: after lockout year one.
Has anything really changed for the NBA since Lebron crumbled and the Heat lost the NBA finals to a freak playoff performance by Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks?
They always say, the glory days are lost and forgotten.
When players played the game they loved and were gracious to be paid to play.
As fans, we have waited so long for basketball, and now that we have seen enough to digest, criticize, post about on facebook and Twitter, we simply can't get enough.
It's why a lockout, and a return is enough lack of media or social coverage to have us hooked.
And once the fish is hooked, the NBA reels in their desired revenue. profits to be specific, not changing the price of
admissions or a drastic realignment of their economic plan, just enough media attention than prior, which was in a bind like the supposed players union and the NBA just months ago.
Before the season started we already had drama in the city of angels.
All star point guard Chris Paul was supposed to be traded to the Lakers in a trade that was blocked by commissioner and acting owner of the New Orleans Hornets David Stern.
Paul eventually landed in Los Angeles but with the Clippers, creating the lob city Clippers with Dandre Jordan and Blake Griffin leaving fans in awe as they catch and dunk alley oops rising above the rim to do so.
The slow and old Mavericks and Celtics are desperately trying to keep pace with young rising teams such as Portland, Denver and Philadelphia.
Kobe caught fire yet again scoring 40 or more points in four straight games, yet the Lakers find themselves chasing their in-town rival Clippers led by the addition of Chris Paul and the resurgence of Blake Griffin and "Lob City" in the Pacific division.
Dwight Howard is still unsure if he wants to leave for a large market team or stay and the Magic find themselves struggling at times.
The Bulls and reigning MVP Derrick Rose sit atop the east yet have fallen to the Heat already and still look to be missing a piece to the puzzle.
With the way the season has gone on thus far, many see the Oklahoma City Thunder led by Kevin Durant and Bryan Westbrook squaring off against the Miami Heat's big three in this years NBA championship.
Let us not forget about the intoxicating story of the rise of Jeremy Lin.
A player cut by three teams in the past two years found a home in the big apple, patiently waiting for his chance to shock the world with his talents as a point guard.
A true story of resiliency and determination to prove his worth, Lin became only the second player in NBA history to average 25 points and seven assists s game in his first five starts.
What started as a heart-warming story has become an international phenomena stretching to the far east side of Asia as the Harvard graduate and first Taiwanese American athlete to achieve global status.
Lin continues to add to his game and now has a healthy duo of All Stars in Amari Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony to distribute the ball to.
The mecca of basketball, New York has won 8 of their last 10 games with Lin as the starting point guard leading into All Star weekend. The Knicks are poised to make the playoffs and continue their climb up the eastern conference standings thanks in large part to an undrafted player cut by two teams and deemed inadequate for NBA standards.
With the all star game fast approaching the stars will aline in Orlando, and the basketball world will be rocking with even more buzz and media coverage.
Mission Accomplished for the NBA right?
Wrong, at the end of the day, the NFL, the Superbowl rematch of 2007 between the Patriots and Giants, where Peyton Manning will end his legacy and Tim Tebow are still the most coveted and reel in the bigger revenues.
As fans though we sit at the edge of our seat, draped in our favorite players gear, with our popcorn in hand anticipating the buzzer beater that will propel our team to glory.
One can hope that the lockout has brought us that much closer to those glory days of Magic, Bird and Jordan.
Has anything really changed for the NBA since Lebron crumbled and the Heat lost the NBA finals to a freak playoff performance by Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks?
They always say, the glory days are lost and forgotten.
When players played the game they loved and were gracious to be paid to play.
As fans, we have waited so long for basketball, and now that we have seen enough to digest, criticize, post about on facebook and Twitter, we simply can't get enough.
It's why a lockout, and a return is enough lack of media or social coverage to have us hooked.
And once the fish is hooked, the NBA reels in their desired revenue. profits to be specific, not changing the price of
admissions or a drastic realignment of their economic plan, just enough media attention than prior, which was in a bind like the supposed players union and the NBA just months ago.
Before the season started we already had drama in the city of angels.
All star point guard Chris Paul was supposed to be traded to the Lakers in a trade that was blocked by commissioner and acting owner of the New Orleans Hornets David Stern.
Paul eventually landed in Los Angeles but with the Clippers, creating the lob city Clippers with Dandre Jordan and Blake Griffin leaving fans in awe as they catch and dunk alley oops rising above the rim to do so.
The slow and old Mavericks and Celtics are desperately trying to keep pace with young rising teams such as Portland, Denver and Philadelphia.
Kobe caught fire yet again scoring 40 or more points in four straight games, yet the Lakers find themselves chasing their in-town rival Clippers led by the addition of Chris Paul and the resurgence of Blake Griffin and "Lob City" in the Pacific division.
Dwight Howard is still unsure if he wants to leave for a large market team or stay and the Magic find themselves struggling at times.
The Bulls and reigning MVP Derrick Rose sit atop the east yet have fallen to the Heat already and still look to be missing a piece to the puzzle.
With the way the season has gone on thus far, many see the Oklahoma City Thunder led by Kevin Durant and Bryan Westbrook squaring off against the Miami Heat's big three in this years NBA championship.
Let us not forget about the intoxicating story of the rise of Jeremy Lin.
A player cut by three teams in the past two years found a home in the big apple, patiently waiting for his chance to shock the world with his talents as a point guard.
A true story of resiliency and determination to prove his worth, Lin became only the second player in NBA history to average 25 points and seven assists s game in his first five starts.
What started as a heart-warming story has become an international phenomena stretching to the far east side of Asia as the Harvard graduate and first Taiwanese American athlete to achieve global status.
Lin continues to add to his game and now has a healthy duo of All Stars in Amari Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony to distribute the ball to.
The mecca of basketball, New York has won 8 of their last 10 games with Lin as the starting point guard leading into All Star weekend. The Knicks are poised to make the playoffs and continue their climb up the eastern conference standings thanks in large part to an undrafted player cut by two teams and deemed inadequate for NBA standards.
With the all star game fast approaching the stars will aline in Orlando, and the basketball world will be rocking with even more buzz and media coverage.
Mission Accomplished for the NBA right?
Wrong, at the end of the day, the NFL, the Superbowl rematch of 2007 between the Patriots and Giants, where Peyton Manning will end his legacy and Tim Tebow are still the most coveted and reel in the bigger revenues.
As fans though we sit at the edge of our seat, draped in our favorite players gear, with our popcorn in hand anticipating the buzzer beater that will propel our team to glory.
One can hope that the lockout has brought us that much closer to those glory days of Magic, Bird and Jordan.
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