Typical...
This fast and furious NBA regular season ended with a whimper last night, as most playoff-bound teams rested the majority of their stars. It’s hard to blame them considering the toll this condensed season has put on a lot of players’ bodies and the fact that the playoffs start tomorrow, but it made for some oddities for sure. For example, my Wizards (who I wrote a pretty optimistic post about earlier in the week) closed out the season with their 6th win in a row. They doled out a 30+ point thumping to the Heat, who basically only dressed a D-League team. I still have a tiny bit of hope for them next year, but they closed the season in a fashion that this Washington franchise has perfected over time: charging fast and hard towards the finish line while the outcome of the race had already been decided some time ago. I think the phrase that Tony Kornheiser would use to describe the Wizards late stretch is “passing tired horses.” Anyway, if that wasn’t enough, Washington’s season closing stretch of winning 8 of their last 10 still didn’t bump them from having the 2nd worst record in the whole league (and therefore the 2nd best odds of winning the draft lottery). What a great strategy: play so terribly early on in the year that you can’t hurt your draft position no matter how many games you win at the end of season. Speaking of terrible, the Bobcats finished the year with the worst single season winning percentage of any team in league history. As nice as it would be for Anthony Davis to be wearing Washington red, white, and blue next year, I can’t help but root for Charlotte to get that number 1 pick…either that, or they should just be contracted.
Oh, dear.
As for the playoffs, here’s my official preview…I have no idea. Despite my power rankings, this crazy NBA season has succeeded in completely throwing me off the prognostication trail. Let’s look at the best teams by seeding. The Spurs have looked surgical as of late, but while I could see them winning the whole thing I could see them potentially losing to any team in the West (including the number 8 seed, Utah, who they are matched up with in the 1st round) as well. I’ve said all along that OKC is the most talented team from top to bottom in the whole league, but their recent struggles have shown that they can be beat when their outside shooting goes a little cold, and they are young enough that they still may need to go through 1 more year of growing pains anyway. The Bulls? They tied San Antonio for the best record in the whole league, but I’m not sure what to expect of them when Rose is inserted back in the lineup. Can he stay on the court and get himself in rhythm quickly enough? Even so, is Chicago really any better than last season when Miami dispatched them in 5 games? And what about the Heat? Much the same as last year, they will be the most heavily scrutinized team this postseason. The supporting cast might be slightly better than last year’s playoffs, but James, Wade, and Bosh are still going to have to carry the load night in and night out. I’m just not sure they have enough to win it all this year either. Do Boston and the Lakers have enough in them to make a strong push? Or will it be whichever Western Conference darkhorse makes it out of their 1st round series, the Griz or Clips? S***, even as a number 7 seed the Mavs are just as dangerous as they were last year (when they were a 6). In short, I don’t know…time to just sit back and enjoy.
No pressure...it's not like your legacy depends on this postseason or anything.
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