NBA playoffs could be snoozer
Of the four major professional sports in North America, one of the four is desperately lacking in drama come postseason time. While Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League consistently prove that any team which enters the playoff tournament can win it all, and the National Football League always gives us that Game 7 feel, the National Basketball Association does none of the above.
Yes, there is the occasional series that everybody remembers. There can be that fantastic finish or the individual performance that makes everyone who watched it think about where they were at the moment for the next 50 years. Yet, on the whole, the NBA does not give us enough to be excited about when the 82-game regular season is over come late April.
Take this year’s Western Conference for example. In the first round, the Golden State Warriors are currently slated to take on the Houston Rockets (a team with a losing record) while the San Antonio Spurs would play the floundering Portland Trail Blazers. Granted, both Golden State and San Antonio are both historically good, but these are sweeps all the way. Even in a typical year, the 1-8 and 2-7 matchups are consistently over with ease.
Then you take a gander at the other two matchups. The Oklahoma City Thunder would be hosting the Dallas Mavericks in the 3-6 setting, while the Los Angeles Clippers take on the Memphis Grizzlies in the 4-5. Oklahoma City is going to crush Dallas (likely another sweep) and the Clippers should – although, they are the Clippers – beat Memphis in no more than five games.
From there, the Spurs and Warriors will hammer the Clippers and Thunder, respectively. Oklahoma City might put up a decent fight, but that series goes no more than six games and at no point will anybody actually believe the Thunder can pull off the upset.
The Western Conference finals are literally the only reason to watch playoff basketball this season. It is going to be Golden State and San Antonio, two teams that have not lost a home game to this point all season. That series is going to be epic, but the rest of the postseason? Pure dreck.
The Eastern Conference doesn’t deserve space in the column, because the Cleveland Cavaliers will roll to the Finals (giving LeBron James his SIXTH straight appearance in them) before getting crushed by the winner of the West.
The NBA gives us wonderful basketball in individual performances and highlight-reel dunks, but the playoff quality is sorely lacking. At some point, we can hope that parity comes back to the sport and the first and second-round matchups actually mean something, because right now, we are just waiting for one series to tell the story of the season.
