Why Do The NBA Playoffs Feel Backwards?
After such an incredible regular season, resulting in a handful of teams all within a game or two in terms of playoff seeding in both conferences, I can admit I was rather excited for postseason action. While obviously there were teams like GS/HOU that were a cut above but everyone else you could argue it was a toss up. Once the playoffs started, it was as awesome as I could possibly want. Games were competitive, series went down, and we even had some upsets. Normally you would think that the first round would be filled with duds, where the good teams would roll and wrap things up quickly. Normally as a NBA postseason goes on and the field gets trimmed to the more elite teams, the games get better. But for some reason, it doesn’t feel that way this year. As I watched the Warriors bring their lead to 30+, the day after I just saw my beloved Celtics get stomped by 30, I had this thought:
Was the First Round better than the Conference Finals?
To me, the answer is no question. In that first round we had two series go 7 games, two go 6, and two “upsets”. The games were close for the most part, sure there was a blowout here and there, but the overall feel of that round was much more competitive. It liked up to the hype in my mind given how close these teams were all year, the playoffs displayed that same trend. But ever since then, it’s been the exact opposite. Once things moved into the second round, no series went past 5 games. Granted the PHI/BOS series was still competitive despite being wrapped up in 5, and in my opinion they had the last truly competitive game we’ve seen this playoffs. That was Game 5, which was played on May 9th where the Celts won 114-112. That was 13 days ago. If you look at all the scores since that date, nothing has been even remotely close.
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Since the start of the Conference Finals, a round that is supposed to consist of the 4 “best” teams, or at least the 4 that are playing the best basketball, each series from either conference has essentially mimicked each other. In the East, we have two games that have been absolute blowouts, a 25 point win for BOS and a 30 point win for CLE. The third game was also decided by 10+ points. In the West, same story. We have a 22 point win for HOU, and a 41 and 10+ point win for GS. As someone who enjoys the sport of basketball I find this rather disappointing. This was the round where we were finally going to get the GS/HOU battle we spent all year drooling over, and I think it’s fair to say for the most part it’s been a dud. The BOS/CLE series is a little different, but to me the PHI series felt way more competitive.
It’s just a little weird that here we are on the brink of the Finals and for the most part every game from either conference has been a snooze fest. I don’t think anyone is surprised by the Warriors dominance, but it’s fair to be at least a little surprised that the Rockets haven’t been able to put up much of a fight. Despite whatever happened in previous years, this was a team that won 65 games and had one of the most historic offensive seasons in NBA history. You wouldn’t know by watching any of their series though, and I find that disappointing. My fear is that we are headed for the same thing in the Finals, and that would be a pretty lame way to end what was such an incredible regular season. I can’t remember a time we had this many blowouts and noncompetitive games this late during the playoffs, and honestly it makes me long for the early rounds. At the end of the day I just want to see the best players in the world play in high pressure close games with everything on the line. These games where things are over by halftime aren’t exactly doing it for me, even the ones the Celtics have won.
Do you feel the same way? Why do you think these games have been so lopsided? Is it the extra time to prepare/rest in between games? Is the talent level that much greater between these final four teams that this is how it’s going to be for the rest of this round?
I certainly hope not.