NBA Season Recap

Well, it’s time to wrap up the NBA Season, and man has it flown by. I think I would be in favor of this shortened season as we had games on every day, and there was plenty to talk about during the season.

But then again, was this season as intriguing as people are saying? You look at the playoff teams in each conference and they’re practically the same teams from the previous season.

In the Eastern Conference, it’s exactly the same teams from two years ago in just a different order. In the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers made it to the playoffs instead of New Orleans Hornets and Portland Trailblazers.

Kevin Durant was this year’s scorer just as last year. The Miami Heat made it to the Finals just like last year. Even some of the same teams won divisions like the previous year.

What were some of the surprises then? I would have to say the way that the Atlantic Division fell into the lap of the Boston Celtics is a surprise. The New York Knicks looked like the team to beat after getting Jeremy Lin going for them and rolling along, but they would drop of the division race and hold on to the seventh spot in the East. The Philadelphia 76ers were up there at top of the division at some point and dropped all the way to the 8th spot. But boy with that eighth spot did they have some luck.

You would have to throw out the idea that injuries were a surprise as was the case with Derrick Rose hurting himself in the first game of the playoffs, an injury that looks to have him out for a good portion of next season as well. The Sixers end up beating that Chicago Bulls team to surprise them in the first round. You wonder if Rose is healthy, if Chicago isn’t the team to beat in the East?

Speaking of the playoffs, how about how quickly it fell apart for the San Antonio Spurs? There was a team that was perfect until game three, and would go on to lose that series to the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1. The same Spurs team that had won so much during the regular season as well, and never encountered a four game losing streak until that series with the Thunder.

The Indiana Pacers might have surprised people with their run to the third spot in the East. As a fan, I knew there was some talent on this team, and believed they could take care of business and make a good playoff run. Unfortunately, the Pacers got the Heat in the second round, and couldn’t finish the job after being up 2-1.

Hard to believe the season is done as I do think basketball fans got spoiled with all the games happening all the time. It was great during the playoffs, where you knew there would be some basketball on just about every night. Time to get teams together for the off season. We have draft night on Thursday, and then the USA Olympics team goes for gold at the end of July. Before we know it, September rolls around, and we’re making bets on who wins divisions and titles? Can we get to that time quicker?