The Postseason of a New Generation

The NBA playoffs follow a strict formula. Top seeds always seem to meet in the conference finals and championship series. But this year? Not so much. by Scott Simone 

The NBA playoffs are in full effect and this year may just be one of the most exciting years of all due to the changing of the guard. No, that’s not a reference to the “Super Teams” like the Miami Heat, but instead to the great, young, and talented teams taking over the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics seemingly dominated the NBA Championship scene for the past three seasons, but with both teams aging rapidly, and teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls maturing into legit championship contenders, the NBA playoffs opened up. 

The Lakers, the two-time defending NBA Champion and three-time defending Western Conference champion who many expected to win again this June, opened up their playoff run against the New Orleans Hornets. And while the Lakers struggled in the last few games of the season, no one gave the Hornets much of a chance to win this series. But, as cliché as it is to say, that’s why the games are played. Behind a seemingly revitalized Chris Paul, the Hornets knocked the Lakers back on their heels by stealing the first game of Sunday. Paul, who after Game 1 told ESPN that the playoffs were “a whole other energy,” led the way with a fantastic game, scoring 33 points, grabbing 7 boards, dishing out 14 assists, and nabbing 4 steals.  Lakers big-man Pau Gasol, who had a rather unspectacular game with only 8 points and 6 rebounds, told ESPN he was “shocked, stunned” by Game 1’s result. But, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The 32-year-old Kobe Bryant has not looked the same all season long due, in part, to a combination of injuries. He hasn’t shown the same explosiveness that he had in the past, settling for more jump shots this season than in past years.

The Celtics, thanks to a last second shot by Ray Allen, narrowly escaped a Game 1 loss to the New York Knicks, who play in their first playoff appearance since 2004. This series, much like the one between the Lakers and Hornets, can go either way. The Celtics haven’t looked quite the same since trading Kendrick Perkins (and Nate Robinson) to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green (and Nenad Krstic). They actually dropped from the first place seed in the Eastern Conference to the third after the trade. Rajon Rondo, who was best friends with Perkins, has struggled, failing to reach double-digit assists in 16 of the last 21 games, and Ray Allen, who relied on Perkins’ screens to free him up, has seen a drop in his production off screens from 4.4 before the trade to 2.2 at the end of the regular season. And with big time players like Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, and Amar’e Stoudemire on the opposing side, this first round series will be no cakewalk for the Celtics.

Back in the West, the Thunder supplanted the old guard as legitimate title contenders. With Russell Westbrook’s explosiveness at the point, Kevin Durant’s freakish ability to score the basketball, and now with Perkins anchoring the paint defensively, few teams can match up with the Thunder. The addition of Perkins to the team made OKC much stronger for a deep playoff push beyond the first round exit of last season. The old adage remains true: defense wins championships. Few centers are more solid on defense than Perkins. He will be able to go up against the Lakers’ big men in Gasol and Andrew Bynum, if both teams advance that far, as well as Tim Duncan and DeJuan Blair with the San Antonio Spurs. Adding a defensive-minded big man to an already scorching offense was perhaps the best upgrade of any team this season and, as a result, the Thunder can go as far as anyone this year.

So with so many teams establishing themselves as legit title contenders, the race to the Larry O’Brien trophy is wide open. It will truly be a treat to watch all these teams duke it out to see who will finish on top. Will it be the Heat, who promised about 20 championships after LeBron James took his talents to South Beach? Or will it be the Thunder, who made such a great pickup midseason? Or will it be another championship year for Kobe and the gang or the Three Amigos in Boston? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see. So, in the mean time, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.