Late April is Christmas time for basketball fans, especially those lucky enough to live out west where last year we were treated to a fantastic playoff season that gave us this gift that will be replayed forever. However, Christmas seems to have been delayed this year. Instead of waking up to presents and goodies under the tree, we felt more like Charlie Brown during Halloween, lamenting that all we got was a rock. What happened? The first round of this year’s playoffs featured more duds than your typical Oregon fireworks stand. Wasn’t this supposed to be an amazing playoff year, much like last year? The Western Conference was stacked with good to great teams 1 thru 8. Every series was to be a blood bath, a knock-down, drag-out fight to try and unseat the San Antonio Spurs as the supreme team in the conference. But, what we have witnessed so far, save for one series, have been disappointing.
The West’s first round featured 3 forgettable series set against one classic first round series. The (1)Golden State-(8)New Orleans matchup featured the debut of future super-star Anthony Davis’ playoff career but was instantly predictable as the Warriors clearly showed they are the team to beat out west, a number one seed that actually looked like a number one seed as they swept through the Pelicans in four games. The (7)Dallas-(2)Houston matchup looked very intriguing two months ago until the arrival of Rajon Rondo torpedoed the Mavericks’ offense along with Father Time. Houston had too much motivation to make it to the second round that they simply would not be denied, beating the Mavs 4 games to 1. Then there was the (5)Memphis-(4)Portland matchup. Portland was a shell of a team it was earlier in the year. The loss of Wesley Matthews hurt more than we were led to believe and the injured thumb of LaMarcus Aldridge seemed to have finally gotten the best of him as his mid-range jumper completely disappeared in the playoffs. The Grizzlies were simply too tough and too playoff tested for the Blazers as they took that series 4-1 as well. Neither series seemed to be in doubt from the opening tip. The prevailing team looked dominate and nobody seemed to question who the better team was.
The one outlier was the (6)San Antonio Spurs-(3)Los Angeles Clippers series that went the full 7 games and wasn’t decided until the final second thanks to an amazing shot by Chris Paul and one crafty shot clock operator that sent the defending champions home. The Spurs were probably no worse than the 3rd best team in the western bracket, but they were going home after round 1, instantly taking away some luster from the rest of the playoffs. This series was supposed to be just one of many great contests; instead it was the only real competitive series in not only the Western Conference, but in the entire playoffs so far. To date, the 2015 playoffs has been a real snoozer. Are things looking up for round two? Has Christmas finally arrived?
The Houston Rockets going up against Los Angeles Clippers features two of the most hated teams in the NBA outside their own fan base, two teams who have never committed a foul and who are simultaneously fouled on every possession make this an interesting series for the refs alone who will hear more whining in this series than your local daycare. The Rockets made things infinitely more exciting thanks to their decision to not show up for game 1 while the Clippers had to sit out Chris Paul with a hamstring injury for both games 1 and 2. The Clippers took game 1 to steal home-court advantage back to the Lakers. For game 2, The Rockets showed why most people dislike them so much as they shot an astounding 64 free throws, helping them overcome another lackluster 1st half before James Harden and company woke up just in time to even the series. The Rockets brand of basketball is not the prettiest, but like in game 2 the result is usually a win, though it should be a bit concerning how they were blown out in game 1 and how close game 2 was without the Clippers All-Star point guard stepping onto the court. For the Clippers, Blake Griffin is finally melding his amazing athleticism with real basketball skills, something that had been missing from his overall game. He has been a triple-double monster during these playoffs and his progression as a player is a huge reason this series is tied without any contributions from Paul, something that wasn’t probable last season.
Chris Paul’s hamstring will be play a big role in how this series shakes out. Hamstring injuries are to gauge and easy to re-aggravate. If the Clippers, who showed a lot of heart and fight in their two games in Houston, are going to win this series they will need Paul, just ask the Spurs. Blake Griffin’s ascension as a player will not be enough alone to tame James Harden and Dwight Howard. As this series shifts back to Los Angeles, expect things to get even more physical and testy which will be a viewer’s delight.
The Golden State Warriors vs. The Memphis Grizzlies looked to be in danger of being another big-time snoozer when Mike Conley sat out game 1 and the Warriors won handily. Conley’s return in game 2 seemed to energize Memphis and the series. His play was fantastic during the second game while the Warriors’ combo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were off target most of the night (13-34 FG-FGA combined), giving hope to Memphis fans that they have a real shot in this series. Memphis displayed the tough defense and workman-like offense that dismantled the Blazers in round one. While they won’t make such quick work of the Warriors, we may have found ourselves a good matchup here.
The Warriors should have legitimate concern going up against the defense of the Grizzlies. Memphis can harass you better than any other team left in the west and will pose a significant challenge to Golden State’s free-flowing offense. The Grizzlies kept Portland’s offense under 100 points for most of round one and now we will see how much of that was Portland’s fall from grace and how much of it was Memphis’ stifling defense. Curry and Thompson will not shoot as poorly the rest of the series as they did game 2, but they won’t get any easier looks as well. Memphis has always played the favorite underdog in the playoffs and they will so again here. But, the Grizzlies have been here before and have been so close to breaking through that they are unlikely to go away quietly, especially if Conley continues his stellar play and Tony Allen keeps telling us he’s 1st-Team All-Defense. Many pundits picked the Warriors to win in as early as 5 games, that thinking may be more tapered now. I hope so; this could have the makings of a great series and when this battle turns to the Grindhouse for game 3 we will know a lot more about the mental toughness of the Warriors.
After receiving socks and underwear for much of round 1, we may finally be getting to the good stuff. Overall, we have all 4 playoff series tied at 1-1. In the West, we have a high octane offense going against a gritty, physical defense. We have the best floppers in the league going at each other to stake their claim as the best to flop their way to the Western Conference Finals. This year’s playoffs are finally getting interesting. Christmas morning has arrived, better late than never.
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