Of Departed Champions and Stitches from a Glass Case

One week into the 2012 NBA Playoffs and we’ve already seen a changing of the guard out West. The Oklahoma City Thunder complete the first sweep of this postseason, unceremoniously dispatching last year’s champions, the Dallas Mavericks in four straight games. Aside from the usual big game from Kevin Durant, it was James Harden’s big game that ended the reign of the Mavs and opened the door wide open for a new champion. The San Antonio Spurs will probably be the next team to complete a sweep because the Utah Jazz have barely done anything to merit any applause whether in Texas or at home in Salt Lake City. Coach Gregg Popovich is living up to his selection as Coach of the Year by not giving any of the Jazz players any breathing room while Tony Parker leads the Spurs’ rampage.

Although the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t able to sweep the Denver Nuggets, today’s win gave them a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and a probable second round match-up with the Thunder. Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum are still putting up big numbers, but it’s the surprise productivity from Steve Blake and Jordan Hill that has pushed the Nuggets to the brink of elimination. The Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies have lived up to their billing as fourth and fifth seeds as every game between them has gone down the wire. The Grizzlies seemed to have recovered from their 27-point collapse in Game One, but the Clippers took a 2-1 series lead back in L.A. behind Chris Paul and a late missed three-pointer from Rudy Gay. If there’s one match-up that looks like it will go the distance in the first round, this is it.

Eastern Conference supremacy was all set for the Chicago Bulls this year. After getting to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011, they recruited Rip Hamilton from Detroit and developed their bench even when Derrick Rose missed time in the regular season due to various injuries. But when Rose went down with a torn ACL in Game One of their series against the Philadelphia 76ers, things just caved in on Tom Thibodeau’s crew. Coach Doug Collins got his own team to play serious defense while getting timely contributions from Evan Turner, Jrue Holiday, and even Spencer Hawes. When Joakim Noah went down with a serious ankle injury in Game Three, Philadelphia could smell the upset actually going their way. The eight-seeded Sixers are now up 3-1 and look poised to accomplish what only four other eight seeds have done in the past; eliminate a number one seed in the first round.

Things haven’t been as difficult for the favored Miami Heat while things couldn’t get more bizarre for the New York Knicks. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade & co. had been routinely blowing out the Knicks in the first three games of their series, and at the end of Game Two, Amar’e Stoudemire committed what can only be described as a stupid act. Frustration overcoming him, Stoudemire smacked his hand on the glass case housing a fire hydrant in Miami’s American Airlines Arena resulting in heavy bleeding, lots of stitches, and worldwide ridicule for not thinking about what’s best for his team. It didn’t help matters that Carmelo Anthony has been hogging the ball and taking so many shots while missing most of them too. Luckily for New York, things finally came together in Game Four as they avoided a Heat sweep and ended the NBA record for most consecutive playoff losses at thirteen games. Most are in agreement though that it’s only a matter of time until the Heat eliminate the Knicks and advance.

After stumbling in Game One of their showdown with the Orlando Magic, the Indiana Pacers have shown what they were expected to do to a team without All-Star Dwight Howard. Through a blowout and a couple of tight encounters, Coach Frank Vogel looks all set to send the Magic packing and leaving Stan Van Gundy wondering if he’ll still coach the team with or without D12 next season. The Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics were supposed to be the East’s equivalent of the tight Clippers-Grizzlies series, but Josh Smith’s injured leg kept him out of the crucial Game Three which Boston won. By the time Smith returned for Game Four (as did Al Horford after missing four months due to injury), Atlanta was cooked. Boston led by as much as 37 points in seizing a 3-1 lead and are looking to end it in five games.

Though Derrick Rose’s injury probably remains the biggest story of the playoffs so far, add the elimination of the defending champions from Dallas, as well as the Knicks’ struggles on and off the court as banner headlines. By the time next week rolls around, we might already be starting the conference semifinals for both the East and West.

Posted at 05/07/2012 5:45 PM | Updated as of 05/07/2012 5:50 PM

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