NBA Playoffs 2011: Spurs First, Boston Second? Possible Changing of the Guard
In 1998, when Michael Jordan was winning his last championship, I was in the middle of high school.
I had an underdeveloped sense of time and an overdeveloped confidence in my understanding of the flow of things. I was even younger when MJ had won his other championships, and as a sophomore in high school—when "forever" seemed real—I just figured that last year was another year of business as usual.
I'm older now, though, and smart enough to understand how our bodies slow down with age. However, I'm still young enough to fight against that idea.
What's indisputable, though, is that the No.1 Western seed San Antonio Spurs will not be proceeding to the second round of the 2011 NBA playoffs.
In the beginning of that series, soothsayers and analysts explained away Duncan's dipping numbers and Ginobili's ginger sprinting with the usual phrases. You've heard them before: "they're the champs" and "they just know how to win" and "in the history of the NBA, the number of times an No. 8 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed is very low."
The new phrase, which you've also heard, goes something like "the Memphis Grizzlies are the only No. 8 seed in the recent era to beat a No. 1 seed in the first round, then take Game 1 in the second round."
And for those of you who missed it, the phenomenon I'm speaking of is happening again. In the Eastern conference series that everyone was waiting for, the Miami Heat are having what LeBron James referred to as "Lunch."
The Boston Celtics might appropriately refer to it as the series of their lives. Because the "big three" (the first big three) have their rings; they banded together and did what they had intended to do.
Ray Allen has his records, Paul Pierce has his vindication and Kevin Garnett has the cherry to put on top of his fabulous career. Now the only question is this: how much do they have left in the tank?
The Heat's "big three" (maybe it'd be better to call them the "new three") led an aggressive defensive effort, which creates fast-break opportunities that have exposed the Celtics' sluggish response time, weak-side defenders arriving a second too late and trailing helpers being out-sprinted by offensive outlets.
Frustration between the mind and the body boils over into game-ending technicals. Fatigue leads to collapse under ankle-breaking pressure. Everyone sees what's going on, but we're all in disbelief.
I appreciate Michael more, now. And he may never be surpassed for a lot of reasons, but it's undeniable that what he did for the Wizards deserves to be in the trophy case along with all the rings and plaques too.
After all, this may be the last time I see bad guys like these again.
