The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and have yet to disappoint those who are basketball fanatics. Through the first week of the postseason, there have been unbelievable contests between extremely evenly-matched teams.
In the East, the No. 1 seed Indiana Pacers tied the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks at 2-2 in their series. The Hawks seem to not be intimidated by the astonishing 56-26 regular-season record, as they took games 1 and 3 in without any hesitation. The Pacers tied it today by winning on the road 91-88, but they know now not to sleep on a dangerous 8 seed like the Hawks.
The No. 5 Washington Wizards have triumphed a 2-1 series lead over a favorited 4 seed, Chicago Bulls. Nene Hilario came up big for the Wizards in game 1, but was ejected in game 3 for a tussle with Jimmy Butler of the Bulls; Nene has been suspended for the fourth game. However, Nene is not the biggest problem for Chicago, it is the premier shooting of Washington’s Bradley Beal and supreme play of John Wall. They are going to need more than just Joakim Noah’s Defensive Player of the Year efforts if they want to advance to the second round.
In the West, the 8 seed Dallas Mavericks lead the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs 2-1. Dallas’ Monta Ellis has really turned up his game in this series, while San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli seem to never age with their game. Vince Carter pulled an amazing stunt when he hit a fadeaway 3-pointer to win game 3 109-108 in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
In addition, No. 7 Memphis Grizzlies lead No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1, even after some spectacular 4-point plays by OKC’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Memphis has regulated the pace of the game, heavily slowing down OKC’s attack.
These playoffs are already a classic.