TWO DAYS into the first round of the NBA playoffs, there were at least three games which ended with the higher seeded teams steamrolling over their opponents in both the Western and Eastern Confercnce.
I’m referring to the Golden State Warriors’ 104-78 thrashing of the Houston Rockets, the Oklahama City Thunder’s 108-70 dismantling of the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs annihilation of the Memphis Grizzlies, 106-74, a development which is quite disappointing, to say the least
Over at the East, the Miami Heat also started its playoff bid with a huge 123-91 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Sure, there’s no doubt that the Warriors, the Spurs, and the Thunder are the top three teams in the Western Conference and the Heat are the higher seed at no. 3 and the Hornets are way below at no. 6 in the East (plus all three were playing in their homecourts), but there’s no excuse for any team to not put up a decent fight, since this is supposed to be the playoffs, where teams are supposed to perform a notch higher than they did during the regular season.
The problem with losing big in the playoffs, (and I know that NBA coaches know this) is that not only that your team now trails 0-1 in the series, the loss also deals a psychological blow on the team and the players, the coaches and the entire organization.
Losing big in the opener of a series will, sooner than later, eat at the team’s psychological make-up and the players’ confidence so much so that the players will question their capability to bounce back with a win in the next game.
I can’t hazard a guess whether the Grizzlies, for one, can pick themselves up after that humiliating loss to the Spurs, who even had the luxury of pulling out all their starters early in the fourth to watch their second stringers add insult to injury to the already embarrassed Grizzlies.
When it was clear that Memphis had no answer to San Antonio early in the fourth when the Spurs built a 30-plus lead, I was so disgusted that I had to switch channels to find a more interesting fare.
But it was only some five hours later when I was able to watch a more interesting sports offering, which also happens to be another playoff match, the Final Four of the UAAP volleyball Final
This was the playoff game between Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws and the De La Salle Lady Spikers.
Going in the game, the Lady Spikers held a twice-to-beat advantage and were hoping to put away the Lady Tams and seal a dream finale against their archrivals, the Ateneo Lady Eagles, who last week disposed of the UP Lady Maroons to take the first Finals seat.
The Lady Spikers played brilliant volleyball in the first two sets to take a 25-15, 26-23 edge, but the Tamaraws fought back hard to take the third and fourth sets, 25-23, 25-21, to set up a deciding fifth.
In the deciding fifth, the Tamaraws displayed more grit and a better defense to finally put the game to bed, 16-14, and force a rubber match this Wednesday.
And you know what? I totally enjoyed the volleyball match with all its drama and tense moments more than the dull, unexciting, lopsided games which they had mistakenly labeled as the “playoffs.”
Playoff time? NBA teams should wake up fast before the games turn into boring, uneventful affairs.
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Belated happy birthday to my sister Emily, who turned a year older last Sunday. I love you, sis and God bless always.
Email me at armero_23@yahoo.com