Overtime, Damian Lillard, and Lint Rollers: Things We Loved About the NBA Playoffs 1st Round

Alright folks, now that I’m back we’ve really got to get to work. The NFL Draft is quickly approaching; the NBA Playoffs are FINALLY heading into the second round, and yesterday was Star Wars Day. Okay, Star Wars Day wasn’t necessarily related, but Star Wars is awesome so just deal with it. Sports journalism is a time-sensitive industry, so I’m going to have to make some tough choices here. Seeing as how the second round of NBA glory will commence tonight, we don’t have much time to discuss what made the first round so awesome. We better get to it! 

Let’s begin at the end. Confused? Don’t worry; I’m confused 90% of the time. What I’m saying is, let’s talk about overtime. It's basically extra basketball that you didn't even pay for! Who doesn't love free?? An amazing thing about that last round of games is the fact that there was so much overtime. Teams were so evenly matched and so unwilling to back down that they just couldn’t settle their differences in the four given quarters of the game. In their respective series, the Thunder and Grizzlies played into overtime for four consecutive games. Overall, there were eight overtime games in the first round. That’s madness! And on top of that, five of the first round series went all the way to game seven. All that extra basketball was an unexpected blessing, but don’t get spoiled, folks. In sports especially, we can’t always expect lightning to strike twice. 

Three-pointers, driving layups, the well placed sky-hook. There are plenty of exciting shots in every basketball game. However, nothing can bring a crowd to their feet quite like a game-winner. When the clock is winding down, tension is high, and you know its do or die time, that’s when fans really come alive. Damian Lillard knows a little bit about the subject at hand. In Game 6 of the Portland-Houston series, with 0.9 seconds left, the Trail Blazers were down by two points and it looked like the Rockets were about to force a game seven. With their back against the wall, Portland inbounded the ball to Damian Lillard, who then…well, he can tell you better than I can:  The great thing about Lillard’s shot, besides the adrenaline it sent pumping through the blood of basketball fans everywhere, was the fact that it ended the series. The Portland-Houston matchup was one of the more exciting of the first round, and it seemed only right that it would end on such a note. Even beyond that, the shot was Portland’s arrival, their statement that the young talent on their roster is relevant now and that there’s more where that came from. So when Lillard grabbed the arena microphone and belted “RIP CIIIIIIIIITY!!” as the fans exploded in the stands, he was saying much more than maybe even he realized. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night when they begin their battle with the Spurs. 

Even though the Raptors didn’t win their series against the Nets, their presence was something we all appreciated. We all believed that they could really pull it off, that the likes of Kyle Lowry could really defeat Paul Pierce and KG in the playoffs. Their brand of basketball was exciting and fun, and they definitely managed to firmly place themselves on the NBA map. However, their greatest gift to us was not anything that happened on the court, but rather who was on the sidelines. That’s right, Toronto’s greatest contribution to the playoffs was Drake representing at every game. It didn’t take long for someone to stick his face on the Raptors logo, and when he was caught courtside using a lint roller (becoming the butt of jokes all over the sports world) the team handed one out to every fan at the next game. No matter what he did, it worked out for the best because Toronto refuses to be a joke any longer. 

On the last leg of the time I recently spent traveling, I was in Oakland/Alameda for a week. There are a lot of cool things about that area that you wouldn’t get to see in a place like San Diego, but one place was more important to me than anything else Oakland had to offer.

 Even though I never did get to attend a game, I knew that for a few days that week, the best series of the first round was playing out inside of Oracle Arena. No matchup was more anticipated this year than the Warriors and the (San Diego) Clippers. In fact, most fans I talked to were sad that they were meeting in the first round because it meant we’d only be able to see one of those teams for the duration of the playoffs. This series was epic on the strength of Steph Curry vs. Chris Paul in itself, but LA and Golden State truly delivered better basketball than any of us deserved in the first round. As two teams that recently turned around long legacies of losing with some of the most exciting young players in the league, it was easy to see the relentless determination in every ball Deandre Jordan blocked into the stands, every time Harrison Barnes broke a set of ankles and drained a jumper. Also, we all found out that JJ Redick is still alive, so that was crazy. Enough of me talking, let’s re-live this madness together. 

Now of course there was a lot to appreciate about the first round of this year’s playoffs, but those were just a few of my favorite things. I would have been a little happier if the Thunder, Pacers, and Nets were cleaning out their lockers right now, but nobody can complain about how those games turned out. As we dive into the second round, here are some things to be on the lookout for:

·         LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Tim Duncan: The young, electric Blazers are about to face off with the Spurs, the NBA’s old guard. A deciding factor in this series will be whether or not Portland’s premiere big man can gain an advantage over decorated vet Tim Duncan as they battle in the paint. This is classic Old School vs. New School, folks

·         Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce vs. Hypocrisy: When the Heat and Celtics met in the playoffs last year, KG and Paul Pierce treated Ray Allen like a leper because of his secession from Boston. Then a few months later, they bolted to Brooklyn and left the Celts to crash and burn. Now that they’ll be facing off with Ray under Brooklyn’s banner, I wonder if their views have changed?

·         Washington Wizards vs. Indiana Pacers: John Wall, Bradley Beal, and the Wizards surprised everyone by offing the Bulls in 5 games, and now they’ll matchup with #1 seed Indiana. With the problems Indiana had against the #8 seed Hawks, it’s not hard to believe that Washington has a real chance to win this series. If for no other reason, watch these games because Wall and Beal are the most exciting guard combo in the league right now.

Needless to say, we’re all excited for more basketball. If we’re lucky, every series will go to seven games and every game will spill into overtime. Well, we can dream, can’t we? As the games continue, feel free to show me cool moments I may have missed, players who are being overlooked, or even just a rant about an especially bad call. We’re getting closer to Miami’s three-peat! (Sorry, couldn’t contain my bias for a whole article). Until next time!