The Clearing

A quick round-up: With three of the four series going the distance, this second round is the finest I've ever been a `witness' to. The most unexpectedly competitive was, undoubtedly, the Pistons-Cavs series--now is as good a time as any to admit that I was wrong (ouch, that hurts!) to dismiss it as a potential waste of time. It was an immensely exciting experience to watch LeBron & co. make the mighty Pistons look falliable who, it must be said, did play sub-par. Although, ultimately, game 7 was a disappointment, the Cavs 'display ensures that they should be a more-or-less regular fixture in the playoffs in the years to come--they acquitted themselves well in their first trip to the playoff in many (being a bit lazy here) years.

The Heat-Nets series was unexpectedly disappointing--they were the number 2 and 3 seeds in the Eastern conference afterall. My prediction for the Eastern conference finals is Heat in seven--atleast that's what I'm hoping for. Two reasons for the suppport (I'm not saying I'm not being true to form here): firstly, gotta support the underdog, and secondly, the boredom factor--need a new Eastern conference champion--Detroit have won it atleast the last three years running.

The Western conference semi-finals were fiercely competetive--what every basketball fan hopes for. Happy to report that both teams I was supporting made it to the finals, really happy for the Mavericks who were finally able to overcome the Spurs. What a finish to game 7 where Nowitski made the big last-minute 3-point play, driving all the way to the hoop, wading through, seemingly, the entire Spurs team, and drawing a foul from the ever-dangerous Ginobli in the process, looks like he is finally ready to embrace his super-star staus. The Phoenix game 7 was a bit of a damp-squib, though the earlier games were indeed very well contested. I was a little conflicted in this series as to who the under-dog was i.e. whom to support. Was it the Clippers who made it to the play-offs after so many years of being the doormat of the other LA team, or was it the Suns who despite being plagued by injuries throughout the season still made it this far--with an MVP I admit, but one who is a David to the typical Goliath-ic MVPs. I'm still not sure whom to support for the next round--the Mavs since they've come away empty-handed in the playoffs the last few years or the Suns who are decidedly the underdogs this time round?

Labels: Sports