THE NBA PLAYOFFS

King James, Kobe and the Lakers, Detroit, again? The Clippers are in!

As I write this, the Pistons have already taken a two game lead in their series with the Bucks and seem poised to take another run at the Championship. It’s been well documented that Detroit has not exactly enjoyed a lot of game two successes over the last few playoff years, so their win in game two of the Bucks series may be a harbinger for wins to come. I must admit at this point that I am a Pistons fan, probably for even longer than Tim “Tool Man Taylor,” who I loved watching when he wore a Pistons jersey while he fumbled around from one disaster to the next on “Tool Time.” They are my pick to go all the way.

LeBron “King” James had an impressive start to his playoff career with an outstanding triple double in the Cavs first game with the Wiz. Is it only me thinking this, and maybe it’s because I still consider hoops to be a team game, I don’t think a “one man show” is going to cut it all the way to the finals. There is no doubt he is one of the greatest talents ever to tear up an NBA court, but until they finish remaking this team with a better supporting cast, their advancing very far seems doubtful. They came down to earth a bit in the second game as the Wizards tied up the series.

The Lakers shot 51 % from the field in their second game with the Suns, and have tied the series at one apiece. The Kobe lead Lakers are going to give the Suns a good run for their money in this series, and it seems, as always, Phil Jackson led teams have a playoff aura about them. Steve Nash is being rumored as the leagues MVP repeat winner and he’ll have to continue his ball handling magic if the Suns are going to win this one. Hey wait a minute; does this make the Suns a “one man gang” like the Cleveland LeBrons?  Maybe, but James and Nash are two distinctly different kinds of talent with the Suns, other players take Nash dish-outs while with the Cavs it’s mostly feed LeBron.

The Clippers are in the playoffs! The long-suffering Clippers are no longer the “whipping boys” of the league, this team is in the playoffs and they are for real! They are currently up two games to zip in their series with the Nuggets after a pair of home wins. So far the Clippers defence has been strong, holding Denver to less than a 40% shooting average in both games. If they are able to hold intensity into the next two games and at least get a split, they should have a good chance of moving on to the next round. There aren’t many Clipper supporters who a few years ago would have taken a bet that their team would be in the playoffs in ’06.

You “gotta love it,” the playoffs in any professional sport seem to bring the games up to a much higher level as teams really pick it up now that the more pedestrian season games are out the way. Nothing shows this more than the first series in the playoffs, when sometimes upsets can be based on nothing more than one team carrying more adrenalin into the games. We may just see some of those in this years NBA post-season.