By the time I wrote this piece, one slot for the Western Finals was already clinched by the Denver Nuggets. The other slot is still to be decided by the two California protagonists. Meanwhile the Eastern part of the playoff is being played according to the script except for the spoiler made by the Miami Heat who dispatched the favored Bucks in the first round.
Now the interesting part. The Beasts of the East.
The four remaining protagonists in the East are all history rich teams with championship pedigrees. The Celtics who took the helm as the top seed with the exit of Bucks, the New York Knickerbockers, the Sixers of Philadelphia and the Miami Heat.
If stats would be the basis to predict the winners, easily the Nuggets and the Celtics would have been the shoo in finalists for this year’s edition, but the NBA Playoffs is much more than that. All the unpredictable, all the intangibles would have to be factored every game since teams in playoffs will be facing each other multiple times and adjustments can be arranged every game. The only thing that matters in the end is the hunger and the heart. All teams can zero each other in terms of offensive plays and defensive strategies and the only thing that matters in the end is the heart. The team with the biggest fighting heart always win.
For this year’s NBA playoff, the teams that create much noise are the teams that belong to the bottom part of the draw. The teams that participated in the Play In tournament, the teams that barely made it to the playoffs which was decided only on the final day of the eliminations.
Ideally, it would have to be Nuggets in the West and the Celtics in the East but as the playoffs progresses it showed the kinks on the pretenders to the crown. The Celtics flaw is so glaring, their mediocre defense and their inability to close a tight ending is becoming predictable. Meanwhile, the Nuggets reliance on the Joker (Nikola Jokic) is taking its toll unless the other starters begin to take part in the game.
Most noticeable however are the two underdogs who have gone to many cliffhangers and now holding up their own against more fancied rivals. The purple and gold team of my kumpadre Neil Bravo, more popularly labeled now as the Lebron Lakers and the Navy Seals of Coach Spoelstra also known as the Miami Heat.
Barring any untoward injuries and other acts of gods, the Lakers will be marching on in the Western Finals and the Heat in the East. It would be an interesting NBA Finals though. Battle of the Underdogs- NBA Finals.
But first the Lakers would have to contend with the Nuggets.
With the King at the helm and his equally hungry for recognition bunch of team mates playing their current brand of basketball, nothing is impossible.
Now the Miami Heat. The Heat will be battling the beast in the East ,which still to be decided by the Celtics and the Sixers. As Coach Erik would say “just drop them in parachute and they will compete”. The Heat have literally passed thru the eye of the needle to reach this far and so far they have paraded the biggest weapon among the prospective finalists. Their Big Fighting Heart.
And so it is. Battle of the Underdogs in NBA Finals, Anyone?
