2007 Playoffs Recap

Just in case you’ve forgotten, the Miami Heat did play in the playoffs this season. Against the Chicago Bulls? First round? Four game sweep? No, not coming to you? Well they did, so just deal with it. Now, I’m not saying with a healthy Wade we could have won the whole shibang, but at the very least we could have taken care of the scrappy (see flopping, see sissy, see Dallas) Bulls. Game 1, in Chicago, final 96-91 Bulls. Wade’s night, 21 pt, 3 ast, 2 ribs. Not exactly your classic Dwayne Wade playoff night (see 30+ pts averaged in last year’s finals). More telling than that though was the fact that he dunked only once (to my knowledge) in that game (though my memory is forcibly fuzzy on the whole subject). Three similar games followed, but without defense or the benefit of 20 points from Antoine Walker. The closest, game three, didn’t even have that close of a final score (104-96) due in part (see whole) to the fact that Miami was outscored 32-20 in the final period, something that’s usually the other way around with a healthy Wade on your side. So, no we probably would not have been able to beat the Spurs, but Chicago was well within our ability.

Thankfully the rest of the playoffs were equally mind blowing (see insane) and people quickly dismissed the Miami sweep as an aged Wade-less Heat team just folding in on itself. The Mavericks, though, got a bit more scrutiny as a team. Well, in all honesty the most scrutinized was “team leader” Dirk Nowitzki, whose inability to be a man about the sport proved costly not only in the most shocking playoff series loss….ever (4-2 down to Golden State, I’d have loved to been the man with money on that one), but also in the finals against Miami last year. Dirk was, in fact, lucky Wade played with such brilliance last year because it shone the spotlight on the young gent from Chicago, instead of where it should have been; on a “superstar” with the inability to lead his team through times of crisis. Dallas, and Dirk, are good, and on some nights they’re great, but if they face any sort of adversity, they have no team leadership, and will, without fail, crumble. My opinion? If Dallas does nothing this off-season to grab a good vet with playoff experience and enough talent to lead, we’ll see another brilliant regular season out of the Mavericks and a subsequent quick exit.

The rest of the first round went pretty much according to plan. Detroit pushed Orlando out of the way. New Jersey vetted it’s way past a young and promising Toronto team that WILL be back for next year’s playoffs. Cleavland swept a Washington team that was missing….well, quite frankly I don’t think any of the Wizards were healthy enough to play, so it was just the Cavs first string against the Cavs second string. In the West, San Antonio and Phoenix took care of business by completing 4-1 series’ against Denver and Los Angeles respectively. The only good, hard fought, normal series of the first round was the Utah Houston series (that series as a finals series would have had great numbers, unlike the one we got). Utah came out on top in a seven game series where both teams put everything they had onto that court.

On to round 2, wherein the playoffs got a bit boring, save for one series. Detroit continued to do its thing (yes losing 2 straight after going up 3-0 because they’re cocky is their thing (see Conference Finals), making sure Chicago knew it had no place being in the second round, and Cleveland plodded its way through New Jersey (yes plodded). Golden State, while providing a brilliant home court, just didn’t have enough left after standing toe to toe with Dallas and petered out against Utah in what was, quite possibly, the most exciting 4-1 series loss ever. Then, there was the Phoenix-San Antonio series. Now, I’m sure you were expecting some long winded paragraph explaining my stance on the series, but it really is very simple. Though San Antonio did win 1 game against Phoenix wherein their players were suspended, the unfortunate thing is they won three others against a fully manned Phoenix Suns team, one of them without their biggest shot makers, Robert Horry. So, like I said, no big paragraph needed folks, Phoenix lost the series fair and square, end of story.

Remember how I said one whole paragraph ago that that was when the playoffs got boring….I was wrong, I really hadn’t expected this….or what was to follow. In an excruciatingly low scoring series, Detroit talked themselves out of another playoff series by insisting everything was fine, they had it well in hand. No surprise, they didn’t, and they let LeBron and the Cavs slip through with a 4-2 series victory. San Antonio, meanwhile, methodically took apart the Utah Jazz in an even more uninspiring series (due in part to the fact that nobody in either city seemed to be excited that their team had made it to the conference finals).

Then….there was the finals. I really have no words except, damn San Antonio (city not the team) you could show a little more excitement and appreciation for your team, the rest of us are bored by your ho hum attitude towards the playoffs these days. Did you see Bulls fans lose interest in Chicago just because they’d won so many championships? No! Now get off your damn high horse and celebrate a series sweep against the Cleavland Cavaliers and enjoy your damn dynasty. Oh by the way, the Spurs won… What an exciting playoff series.

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