Match-Ups, One-on-One...The NBA Playoffs are Alive!

The playoffs are getting interesting—really interesting.

LeBron James' potential, game, attitude, etc., will be tested to the core against the Boston Celtics who, as we speak, already have a 2-0 lead. I hate to sound too rotten, but if the Cavs do get swept by this Boston team, I will not be surprised. 

Dwight Howard must justify his All-NBA First Team status by doing the same against the rock-hard Pistons. It will be a tough, mighty task. But with Billups out, maybe, just maybe, it gives the Magic a ray of hope.

And by the way, a First-Teamer must play and inspire his team like a First-Teamer should. There should be no excuses for LeBron and Howard. None. 

Over in the West, things just got better—the Spurs took Game three and gave this series a hint of respectability. As much as I appreciate Chris Paul and his wonderful plays, it'll take a momentous performance from his team to get through the Spurs.

As much as I don't really enjoy the Spurs' game (they are downright nasty and too brazen for me), I know that they are not the sort to go down without a fight. As I said in my earlier articles, if Paul can get his Hornets past San Antonio, that'd be my playoff story for this season. 

As for the Lakers-Jazz series, call it home court advantage, fear, intimidation, whatever you will, this series will be over in five, if not four, games. That's just how good this Lakers team is.

Love him or hate him, whether his MVP award was debatable or unanimous, Kobe Bryant is the real deal. There's no stopping him, and his game is now better—he does it all. And his team is winning. 

Even when he was leading his team back in 2002-03 without Shaquille O'Neal for a while and had those amazing games, I still thought of him like the rest—too arrogant, selfish, and too good for comfort. He's no less different now, only that he actually defers to his teammates and trusts them more.

Not one of these remaining eight teams here believes they are any less worthy of being here. Not a single one. Each has their marquee players, their go-to-guys. Their offenses and defenses are packed and full to the brim, but it's the execution that matters.

How has a barely-six-footer Chris Paul energized a downtrodden team in such a way that they are even entertaining championship aspirations? 

How did Kobe Bryant learn that he couldn't do it all on his own, and actually did learn to trust and encourage his teammates, and has the results to show for it? 

How did Ray Allen and Paul Pierce defer to Kevin Garnett and believe that he was the man, the leader behind their resurgence? The former two aren't just good players, they are All-Stars, and forces in their own right. Just how did they give way and let KG free?

Call it what you will, call me whatever you like, but I've also been in a few intense basketball games before. Any momentum can be easily crushed with one single, demoralizing loss. And before you even can help it, all the momentum can just be killed with one brush stroke. 

The challenge for teams with winning leads is the need to realize that one single loss can alter the future of a series, that no losing team here is incapable of turning it around. That 2-0 can easily be 2-2 and then it's game on. 

LA has a mighty challenge Friday evening and so does Boston—they're on the road and at two of the most vociferous arenas in the league. I give them both the edge, and it's simple. However the opposition may be, LA and Boston are the teams of this playoff. 

Boston made it tough against Atlanta in the first round but here, they have turned it around and messed up LeBron so tough that it'll take a miracle for the Cavs to turn it around. For this series to be alive, the Cavs must, must win Game three. If not, they might as well start packing their suitcases for Hawaii.

But the edge lies with Bryant and his Lakers. As much as Chris Paul and his Hornets are the success stories of this season, it's the Lakers and Bryant that gets the blood boiling.

You know that you just want to see him in action, that when he's on the court, the game just stops, and you just see him and marvel. That's what he does now. And he gets his team to play like a team—that is his greatest achievement this season.

So, what then?  

What would be the perfect Hollywood ending?  LA against Boston? Or Boston against New Orleans? Or even LA versus Detroit?

Or maybe I should calm down and see these big boys in action, and just marvel at what we have—regardless of whoever wins or loses.