There is no team in the league right now getting help from the zebras like the Thunder. It's been stunning.
Thunder are getting a lot of calls but Ilbaka/Westbrook/Harden are playing nuts on both sides of the court, so I'm hoping thats why there getting away with it and not just because Stern wants them to get to round 2.
To the Warriors: you'll always have that one playoff series to believe in. BoomDizzle, Baby!!! Remember that one time Band Camp when he dunked on AK47??? Epic!
I knew Denver would flame out in the playoffs. You need at least 1 or 2 great players and they don't have any.
The Thunder are clearly the better team ... Maybe there's a little bit of ref bias, but they don't really need it.
Denver's balanced attacked works in the regular season, but in the playoffs it all comes down to the stars, and they have none.
Dirk is a mofo star - no other way around it. Their problem is that their star is not a ball-handler and in today's NBA - this is a big problem at times - especially if the other team does a good job of denying said star the ball in certain situations. The last couple of games have seen Portland doing a good job of denying Dirk the ball in good position at the end of the game with the Mavs not working hard enough to fix it.
Sometimes it seems like no matter what happens people say its because of ref bias and Stern wanting so and so to win. If the Thunder sweep its because Stern wants them to be the new anointed ones. If the Lakers lose a couple games its because Stern wants a longer series to increase TV revenue. Maybe by the nature of the game of basketball there will always be debatable ref calls? I can't believe owners would allow their own teams to be screwed out of wins on Sterns whims. Ultimately Stern works for the owners.
I believe that for many owners it is business first, love of the game 2nd - and Stern has basically saved this league from collapsing in the 80s and made it a financial money printing machine (recession time none-withstanding).
It's weird how the series that's supposed to be the closest match (4/5 seeds) is the only one that hasn't been competitive. Have the 1, 2, and 3 seeds ever been eliminated in the first round before (I know there's still a lot of basketball to play, I was just curious).
The funny thing was the picks at the start of the playoffs. Many picked Denver vs. Thunder the most evenly matched playoff series in the first round. So far, that hasn't been the case. The funny thing is both the 4/5 series is very lopsided.
If teams played a series of games against each other during the regular season rather than once every couple of months, I think certain teams like Denver would have worse records than they do.
A 1 seed has only ever lost to an 8 three times. First time was in 1994 (Denver over Seattle), but 2 seed Houston and 3 seed Phoenix both won their first round series'. Most recently, the Mavs lost in 2007 (to the Warriors led by their former coach), but again, the 2 (Suns) and 3 (Spurs) won. Closest was in 1999 when the Knicks beat Heat and the 3rd-seeded Magic also went down, but the 2nd-seeded Pacers swept the Bucks. So, short answer is no, it's never happened.
George Karl surprised everyone after losing Anthony and won 50. Now his team displays its lack of a star. This shows his coaching deserves praise, not the opposite.
Dirk is a star. But so is B-Roy and so is LaMarcus. I think we have the needed stars to have success in the playoffs. Unlike Denver.
