2nd Round of Playoffs Begin With a Yawn
With the top eight teams left vying for their conferences' finals, you'd think that we'd - the NBA fan base - would be in for a scintillating treat of well-played, down-to-the-wire basketball games. Save for Game 1 of the Mavs/Spurs series, however, all other games have been far too one-sided. Sure, the Cavs made an impressive 4th quarter comeback attempt, but that fell short, and Game 1 of the Suns/Clippers series had its high points, but there's been no last minute mad dashes to the hoops, or final second shot attempts that decide the game's fate (except for Game 1 of Mavs/Spurs). After being spoiled from the first round of the playoffs with one nail-biting game after another, this second round of playoffs feels like a let down.
Currently, only the Pistons hold a 2-0 advantage, with all other three series knotted up at a game apiece. There's no game tonight (Thursday), the day of rest being added as the teams shift to a new locale and so that ABC game air a game on Saturday and Sunday (Game 3 of the Mavs/Spurs and Game 4 of the Heat/Nets, respectively).
I still hold by my earlier predictions: Detroit and Miami will match up in the ECF, with Detroit advancing, and the Spurs will move on to face the Clippers, with yet another Spurs/Pistons Finals matchup ensuing.