Out West, the NBA Playoffs have been filled with surprises. The seventh-seeded San Antonio Spurs are up three games to one on the Dallas Mavericks, and the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz are up on the dynamic Denver Nuggets, 3-1. The East has been exciting, but the results have turned out more or less as expected. The Orlando Magic just completed a four-game sweep of the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday and will face the winner of the Hawks-Bucks series.
The Magic played their brand of basketball and showed very few flaws in their game. Averaging 94.8 points per game as a team, the Magic won the four games by an average of nearly 10 points, largely due to their 37.5 percent shooting from three compared to the Bobcats' 27.9. The Magic weren't led by Dwight Howard, but instead by Jameer Nelson, who averaged 23.8 points per game and shot 42.9 percent from the long range.
Howard has been seriously underachieving, averaging just 9.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, and has only been playing 26.5 minutes per game due to foul trouble in all four games. In the next round, Howard will have to establish his inside presence because both the Hawks and the Bucks have great perimeter defenses that will put more pressure on the Magic shooters than the Bobcats did.
In the 1-8 matchup, the Cavaliers have been handling the Bulls as most had expected. Cleveland is scoring at will, averaging 108.8 points per game and shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. The Cavs took the first two games in Cleveland by double digits, but in Game 3, the Bulls battled with the Cavs and fended off a late fourthquarter run to win 108-106.
In Game 4, the Cavs came out unleashing everything they had, ripping the nets with 48 percent shooting from three en route to a 121-98 victory. LeBron James had another "typical LeBron" night, dropping 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. James went into the locker room at the end of the first quarter to get a bruised elbow looked at, but it didn't seem to bother him after he came back into the game. Antawn Jamison added 24 points and seven rebounds, while Mo Williams and Anthony Parker tacked on a combined 31 points while shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point-range.
In the 4-5 matchup, the Boston Celtics took a commanding 3-0 lead on the Miami Heat going into Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. The Heat had been having a hard time finding offense from other players besides Dwyane Wade; through the first four games, Wade has 135 points, while the next highest Heat player is Michael Beasley, with 50 points.
Wade exploded for 46 points in Game 4 and forced the series to a Game 5 in Boston. Wade shot 5-of-7 from three-point range and 16-of-24 from the field, officially taking his team on his back and extending the series at least another game.
The Celtics have surprised many doubters who believed they were a washed-up, slower version of the 2007 championship team. They have been getting balanced scoring from their Big Three, although it is safe to say that Rajon Rondo has replaced Kevin Garnett as the third member of the group. Rondo is averaging 14.8 points and 9.8 assists per game, leading a Celtics team that has not been afraid of the transition game and has outscored the Heat by an average of almost eight points per game.
The most intriguing series thus far in the Eastern Conference has been the series between the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks took the first two games at home by 10 points each time, but the Bucks responded in Game 3 with an 18-point victory at home and followed that up with a 111-104 victory on Monday night. Rookie Brandon Jennings has lifted the Bucks with his crafty play at point guard, averaging 19.8 points per game. John Salmons has continued his outstanding play, providing the Bucks with valuable minutes and a go-to scorer in the series. Carlos Delfino, the sharpshooter from Argentina, ripped off 22 points in Game 4 including 6-of-8 from three-point range.
Home-court advantage has played a huge role in this series, and it seems that the team that can steal a game on the road first will come out victorious. Although the Hawks can win the series without winning on the road, they do not want to force a Game 7 with a hungry Bucks team that has low expectations and millions of people to prove wrong.
