Despite the fact that the NBA lockout made the team’s schedules a lot more compact, the players still played their best and did what they could to advance to the playoffs. There were many good teams that all had a chance to make it to the playoffs and possibly the finals. However, only sixteen teams make it to the playoffs and this year it was the San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Los Angles Lakers, Los Angles Clippers, Memphis Grizzles, Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, and the Atlanta Hawks. These teams played better than the rest and advanced to the playoffs for a chance to win the NBA Finals.
The first round of the playoffs has begun and the first team to win four games will advance to the next round. The first round match ups are: Spurs vs. Jazz, Thunder vs. Mavericks, Nuggets vs. Lakers, Clippers vs. Grizzles, 76ers vs. Bulls, Knicks vs. Heat, Magic vs. Pacers, and Celtics vs. Hawks. Some of these teams have already advanced to the second round. The Thunder have advanced to the second round of the playoffs by sweeping the defending champions, the Dallas Mavericks, 4-0. The Spurs have also advanced to the second round by sweeping the Jazz 4-0. The Pacers have advanced to the second round defeating the Magic 4-1 who do not have their all-star center, Dwight Howard, due to a back injury. The Los Angles Clippers are up on the series 3-1 against the Grizzles and will be playing Wednesday May 9, in hope of advancing to the second round. Philadelphia leads the series 3-2 against the Bulls, who do not have their all-star player, Derrick Rose, due to a torn ACL, and played Tuesday May 8, hoping to advance to the second round but were defeated by the Bulls. When I asked the sports editor of the roaring times, Raymond Evanoff, he said, “Despite the various injuries the Chicago Bulls have dealt with this season, I believe they have a deep and talented roster that will allow the bulls to become the 2012 NBA Champions.” The Heat are up 3-1 in the series and hope to advance to the second round and will also play on Wednesday May 9. The Celtics played on Tuesday May 8, hoping to advance to the second round since they were leading the series 3-1 but were defeated by one point and will now have to play another game with the series at 3-2. The Lakers were also one game away from advancing but lost on Tuesday May 8 which has made the series 3-2.
The advancing teams are now relaxing and getting ready to play in round two of the playoffs which are not going to be as easy as round one. The Thunder were the first of all the teams to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Somehow they swept the defending champs without a problem, even with Durant, Thunder’s shooting guard and one of the best scorers in the NBA right now, not playing as well as he usually does. Durant was not playing as well, but one person on their team that was, it was James Harden, a bench player that had twenty-nine points, five rebounds, and five assists giving them the win in game four. “This goes without saying, I’m excited we won the series,” Thunder’s coach Scott Brooks said after the game four win. “James had an incredible game. We ran pick and rolls at the angles. … He was making plays for himself or our shooters.” (http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320505006)
The Spurs were the second team to advance to the second round after defeating the Jazz on Monday May 7. After the game, Greg Popovich, the head coach of the Spurs said, “We’ve been a deeper team this year than we usually are and it sure came in handy tonight.” (http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320507026 )
After years of losing for the Pacers, they finally made it to the second round of the playoffs. The Indiana Pacers coach, Frank Vogel, said, “I’m just so happy for our fans, they’ve endured a lot those years when we struggled. To finally see us come back and have a winning team again and somebody that has a chance to do something special this year. That’s what they deserve. Pacers basketball is back.” (http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320508011 )
The other teams are still battling it out to see who will advance to the next round and the excitement is on another level with the defending champs knocked out, leaving the crown open for anyone to take.
