NBA Playoffs

[Ghoulish Delight]

We've got baseball and hockey covered, so for completeness' sake, here's a basketball thread (cue scaeagles talking about selfishness and lack of teamwork).

The Celtics/Bulls series was fantastic and all, and I know we're only a game in to the latest series, but if games 1 were any indication, this is going to be an entertaining round. I still expect it will be Lakers/Cavs in the finals, but clearly the Mavs and Magic aren't going to let them off easy.

Good win for the Lakers Monday. Weird to say about a sloppy game they just barely pulled out, but after their bipolar series with the Rockets where they were either 100% dominant, or barely bothered to show up, it's good to know they can grind a close one out and compete even when they aren't hitting on all cylinders.

And after last night's pathetic performance by Clevland's bench, I'm liking the Lakers' chances against them in the finals. Kobe and Lebron will take turns doing their thing, but it'll come down to the benches and the Lakers are by far the deeper team.

Am I the only one not wetting myself over Dwight Howard "breaking" the shot clock? It didn't "collapse", it gracefully folded up for storage, more like someone didn't tighten a bolt all the way when they set the basket up.

Fast forward 9 1/2 minutes to LeBron's dunk to see something really impressive. The replays look like a special effect.