The NBA Playoffs have Sucked, and I am Still Going to Watch

Tonight there is a pivotal game 6 in the NBA playoffs between Houston and San Antonio. If San Antonio wins, they move on to face the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. If the Rockets win, there will be a game 7 this weekend. With all this being said, I am not looking forward to any game 7.

This NBA postseason has been wildly disappointing. The games and series, for the most part, have been blowouts and have gone as expected. Both Cleveland and Golden State have breezed, as they should, through their first 2 series. The Warriors have not faced any real competition to this point so far, especially since they are at full strength. The Blazers, try as they might, do not have a team that is a threat to any playoff team in the West. I love Lillard and McCollum, but outside of those 2, there is not much else. It was a telltale sign of how that series would go when, in game 1, both Lillard and McCollum went for almost 85 points, and the Blazers still lost by double digits. They then breezed through the Jazz with no problem at all. The Cavs crushed the Pacers. The Pacers looked like they did not even want to be there, and Paul George was throwing his teammates under the bus left and right. They laid a total egg in game 4. The Raptors, who I thought could give the Cavs a series, were just awful. Their bigs couldn't stay on the floor, Lowry played hurt, then didn't play at all, DeRozan was wildly inconsistent, basically, the Raptors got tremendously outplayed by the Cavs. The 2 best teams have done what they should have done so far.

I expected a lot more from the first round of the NBA playoffs. I was pumped for OKC-Houston. I thought that it was going to be a great 7 game series with Harden and Westbrook trading blows. I expected high scoring games and tremendous efforts from the top 2 MVP candidates. Well, the Rockets won in 5, Westbrook got no help and the Rockets, even though they won, didn't play exceptionally well. It was a rough series to watch. Westbrook did what he could, but he also tried to take over way too often, especially in the fourth quarter. But, the Thunder have nothing else around him, no matter what some other sports writers say. Oladipo was a no show, Adams was ineffective, Taj Gibson had one good game, the Thunder's bench and other 4 starters stunk. The Rockets and James Harden weren't much better either. They shot very low percentages from 3. Harden was inconsistent. Ryan Anderson was horrible. Eric Gordon was a non factor. Lou Williams was the only Rocket that played semi decent basketball.

The Spurs-Grizzlies series was okay, but it went as expected. Kawhi was the best player, by a wide, wide margin on the floor, and after a few hiccups, they figured it out and beat the Grizzlies in 6. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol played fine, but when you are counting on guys like Wayne Selden Jr and Vince Carter, that is not going to win you many series. They got 2 because they are a prideful team, but the Spurs were clearly the better team.

The Clippers-Jazz series was the only first round to get to a game 7, but the game 7 was never in doubt. The Clippers did what they always do and blow a game they could have easily won. Chris Paul looked gassed. Blake Griffin was injured again. Deandre Jordan, once Rudy Gobert came back, was rendered useless. The Clippers are perpetual underachievers, and they showed that in this series. The Jazz played okay, but there were times that Gordon Hayward was out or inconsistent. Gobert missed the first 3 games, yet the Jazz found a way to win 2 of those games. George Hill played fine, but not great. Rodney Hood's shot was way, way off. Joe Johnson was great, but that was about it. Game 7 of this series was a total dud, with the Jazz absolutely dominating, from the tip, the Clippers.

As far as the first round in the East, I already mentioned Cleveland and their run to the conference finals. But, other than that, no real drama. Yes, the Bulls took a 2-0 lead against the Celtics, but Isiah Thomas was dealing with a horrific tragedy, they weren't hitting threes, and Rajon Rondo remembered that he was once a top 10 point guard in the league. Dwayne Wade and Jimmy Butler were playing very good basketball as well. Then, Rondo got hurt, the Celtics started to hit their threes, they played better defense, they rallied around Thomas and they won the next 4 games, by a lot, to advance to the second round.

The Raptors-Buck series was entertaining for the single reason that we got to see Giannis Antetokoumpo's first playoff experience. He was awesome. The Bucks will be good for awhile if they stay together, but the Raptors veterans and playoff experience won out in the long run and they closed the Bucks out in 6 games. DeRozan scored better in that series and Lowry played well. Ibaka looked good and a guy like Norman Powell exploded to have a big game out of nowhere.

The Wizards-Hawks series was very bland. Each team won their first 2 home games, then the Wizards realized how much better they are than the Hawks, and they crushed them in the next 2 games, including a thumping in Atlanta in game 6. John Wall was fun to watch, but that was about it from that series.

Now, we are currently in the second round. We already have 2 teams, the aforementioned Warriors and Cavs, set to play in the conference finals. The other 2 series are still going on, but with the exception of 2 games, it has been one blowout after another. The other night was the best game I have seen so far, when Manu Ginobli blocked Harden's game tying three attempt in overtime. That was a fun back and forth game, and the balance was always in doubt. Even without Kawhi in overtime, the Spurs still found a way to win. But, the other 4 games, I believe each team has won by double digits, including each team winning a game by 20 plus points. The Rockets are deadly when they make threes like they did in games 1 and 4, but when they play like they did in games 2 and 3, anyone, including the Lakers and 76ers, can beat them. Harden has looked bad, Kawhi is not dominating, LaMarcus Aldridge has been very subpar, the Rockets shooters aren't really hitting shots, D'Antoni is playing too small a rotation and Poppovich needs to quit playing David Lee and Pau Gasol and play Dwayne Dedmond and Johnny Simmons more.

The other series in the East has been the biggest disappointment to me of the entire playoffs. I was more so looking forward to the Celtics-Wizards matchup than the Thunder-Rockets. These two teams hate each other, and that has shown, but this has been a piss poor series. Yes, game 2 was phenomenal and Thomas and Wall were otherworldly, but the other 4 games, especially last night, have been terrible. Neither team seems to want to play defense. The Celtics were up about a million at halftime last night, and scored 67 points in a half. The other night, after halftime, the Wizards went on a 26-0 run to blow away the Celtics. The series has not lived up to the hype. Yes, we had a "fight", but that was about as weak a fight that I have ever seen. But, other than that, very ho hum, filled with blowouts and bad defensive basketball. I picked the Wizards to not only win this series, but I also picked them to beat the Cavs. In 6 games. With the way they are playing right now, especially on defense, and Bradley Beal personally, they will be lucky to get one game off the Cavs. I need to amend that pick and take the Cavs in a sweep.

Which leads me to my final point. Yes, these playoffs have been dreadfully bad, but does any other teams besides the Cavs and Warriors really matter? They will meet for a third straight time in the Finals. It is absolutely inevitable after what I have watched for what seems like months now in the NBA playoffs. The Cavs and the Warriors are the only 2 teams that matter, and they will, and need, to match up again in the Finals. If it is any other team from either conference, I will be disappointed. So, if you are as disenfranchised with what you've seen so far, at least, hopefully, we will get the rubber match between the 2 teams that are far and away the best 2 teams in the NBA Finals. Here's hoping.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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