San Antonio Spurs Twisted Like Kobe's Ankle

The NBA playoffs has definetly owned up to what I expected before the 1st tip-off.  I expected to be wowed, angered, shocked and greatly entertained.  The shine of the Memphis Grizzlies illuminating over a aging San Antonio Spurs.  The faces of all the Spurs players told the entire story from this 1 seed vs. 8 seed match-up. Complete & utter shock; being down 3-1 against a team that a casual NBA fan would know nothing about.  The faces of the Los Angeles Lakers looked eerily similar to the Spurs after Chris Paul & New Orleans Hornets evened the series at 2-2.  I ponder; has a new era arrived in the Western Conference of the NBA?

Even Jordan slowed down, as did all that we remember from the great Chicago Bulls championships era.  There is an sports expiration date for everyone when they wake up one morning actually feeling their age.  Sure it's not only my opinion but Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker's time seems to be up.  As well as Kobe (ankle), Pau Gasol, & Bynum; has Father Time grabbed their shirt tails?  A little less definitive but the Lakers look to be struggling just as much as the Spurs after they were victimized by what some expected to be a lesser opponent in the Grizzlies.  In that case I guess you could say "LESS IS MORE".  The Grizzlies and Hornets have come out fearless and are not backing down to the older more experienced teams.

The Western Conference unmistakably has a change of hierarchy underway; however the Eastern Conference domain at the moment is still ruled by the "BIG 4" in Allen, Peirce, Garnett & RONDO...  Boston Celtics, the 1st team to advance to the Eastern Conference semi-final round which can help or hurt them depending on how long it takes the Miami Heat to close out their series with the resilient Philadelphia 76ers.  If the Celtics sit too long they can lose sight of their momentum but resting just the right span of time could keep the Celtics rolling.  

The 76ers actually embodied the backbone of the fictional Philadelphia character in ROCKY I, II, III, IV, V, .... etc.  They faught hard to stay alive even with the 50/50 shot by Louis Williams to grasp the lead at the end shocking the Lebron, Wade & Bosh show.  Surely the Miami Heat had some recollection of the 18 other close games they lost before last night's debacle.  History has shown that no NBA team can comeback from an 0-3 deficit; so the 76ers not only face a dynamic defense & transitional team but they face INEVITABILITY...  Unless ROCKY does show up and actually gives Lebron, Wade & Bosh an upper cut.  Not probable.

Derrick Rose (ankle) has created a new era by himself being possibly the only Point Guard I have ever seen play the game of basketball as explosive as a shaken soda.  Rose seems unstoppable but he & the Bulls actually are in a match-up that favors the toughest team of any given night.  The Indiana Pacers have the toughness and "coulda', shoulda', woulda' " either lead this series or be tied but that's not how the cookie crumbled.  Therefore, the same goes for the Pacers as the 76ers; they're likely not coming back from faltering to an 0-3 start against a caliber team such as the Bulls.

The Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trailblazers is the best 1st round match-up because you don't know what to expect. An 18 point 4th quarter by a resurging Brandon Roy or Dirk Nowitzki putting up 25 points and Tyson Chandler pulling down 20 rebounds tonight.  Very good possibilty that we'll see a Game 7 out of this match-up.

Denver Nuggets fit the phrase "close but no cigar" very well.  They play good enough to hang with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook & the Oklahoma City Thunder but the Nuggets seem to lose there grip at the end of games.  They lasted longer than Melo & the Knicks, that should count for something.

There is a new era in the NBA which only means that I'm aging right along with Kobe & Tim Duncan.  I'm stating the obvious but I don't think Kobe and Tim Duncan realize that there time is nearing it's END...

The match-up that I yearn for comes in the next round in the Eastern Conference when the "BIG 4" of the Celtics take on the "BIG 3" of Miami.  "Putting the cart before the horse," as my Mother would say, but if the Miami Heat LET the Philadelphia 76ers win 3 games in a row then Lebron & Bosh should have to go back to their prior teams.  My wife is a Celtics fan & I am a Heat fan but "united we stand, divided we fall," so our house should still be in 1 piece at the end of the series no matter who wins. Thnx, Abraham Lincoln...