Separating the contenders from the pretenders

The real games had started in the NBA and underdogs had made things interesting.  Interesting because some of the teams were not expected to survive the play-in tournament.   The mini tournament was borderline boring with some blowout games until Stephen Curry and LeBron James spiced things up. 

It could have been the Western Conference Finals with Curry shooting from everywhere and LBJ with his clutch-ness, coupled with Oscar-worthy drama that would shame the choreographed moves of pro wrestlers.  

This time, the most intimidating teams are not on top of the heap and because of injuries to their stars and some lineup miscues, they could be in danger of early playoff exits (hello, LA Lakers).

The West top seeds, Utah and Phoenix, are not favored to go all the way to the Finals with LA Clippers and yes, the Lakers in their way.  The Jazz had their best season so far in perhaps 2 decades and for the past two years had a good regular season.  Yet they fell to 8th seed Memphis in Game 1 and like last year, failed to advance to the next round.  I think they’ll recover and close out the Grizzlies in 6 games.

New York teams are in.  With the easing of restrictions and about with 10 million people in the city either fully vaccinated or had at least one dose, the Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center are bringing in the crowd.  

At the right moment, the Nets are in full force, and they are a scary team with their offensive firepower.  They’re going against an injury-depleted Boston Celtics that even coach Brad Stevens had said that it would be hard to think of Brooklyn losing. 

The Knicks, now known for their defense, had a defensive lapse in the dying seconds of Game 1 that allowed Trae Young safe passage to the basket which silenced Spike Lee and the orange-and-blue crowd.  Julius Randle needs consistent scoring support from his teammates.

It’s a long, hard climb for Miami now that they’re 0-2 against Milwaukee.   The Bucks, with the memory of their semis exit last season at the hands of the Heat still fresh, are all out in their quest this time.  Giannis and company are aiming for Milwaukee’s first trip to the Finals since 1974 and their first NBA title since 1971, starring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson.

There might be some surprises this year and we could be seeing different teams battling on basketball’s center stage.  It’s the playoffs and the process of picking out the pretenders from the contenders had started.