Here we are, flying down the homestretch of a grueling 82-game regular season with the playoffs on the ever nearing horizon. The best of the league jockey for playoff position and claw and scratch for the right to hold a potential game 7 on their home floor. Pretty exciting stuff, right? Not really.
In a sense, we've been deprived of what truly makes the time of the season thrilling. Playoff teams have pretty much been set since mid-March and with the exception of Houston giving futile chase to a Grizzlies squad with a reputation for inconsistency, this last leg of the season hasn't provided much to write a column about, other than the Bulls having all but a choke hold on the top spot in the East, and the Spurs and Celtics looking much more mortal than they've looked earlier in the season.
This sudden sense of mortality has a bit to do with an ill-timed injury bug infestation and likely an even more ill-timed trade in Bean-town, but mostly these teams know that the playoffs await and it's more important to play great basketball in late April than early April. Recall, if you will, last year's Celtic team; a lowly 4-seed written off as an old horse past its prime by most heading into the post-season simply because they appeared to have stumbled their way there. As it turned out, the Cs had plenty of gas left in the tank, treated the playoffs as a starting gate rather than a finish line and one month later, lost in game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The media will try to force the idea that these final games matter down your throat just to keep TV rating from slipping and keep you from getting as bored as the players undoubtedly are at this point. It's not so much that home court advantage doesn't matter, but it's simply a factor in who wins in the playoffs, not the factor. A lot of fuss is being made of the fact that Dallas has only won 8 of their last 17 games. Dallas is just an older team biding their time until the playoffs. With the exception of most likely wanting that game against the Lakers a couple of weeks ago in which they got rocked, the Mavs probably haven't cared about winning a game at all costs since about March. The Mavs are the best road team in the league, had the 2 seed in last year's playoffs and were bounced by the 7-seed Spurs. The only things that do matter in the playoffs are matchups.
During the Dallas-L.A. game, Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, and company kept expounding on the importance of this game in determining second round home court advantage. First of all, they're making a hell of an assumption that these two teams can make it past their 6 and 7 seed opponents respectively. (I'm saddened to admit that it's a much bigger question mark for the Mavs than for the Lakers.) Second of all, while not the case anymore, the Blazers were sitting in the 7 spot at the time, while the David West-less Hornets were number 6. I promise you, each team would rather play the Hornets, even at the expense of sacrificing home court in the second round. Even if the 2 seed were to beat Portland, it is most likely going to take more out of them than a series against the Hornets. This is, of course, speculation, opinion, and not giving a whole lot of respect to Carl Landry and CP3, but even if you disagree, you can see my point. Playoff basketball is about whom you play, how you play, and health. Where you play is a distant fourth, in my opinion. Don't feel guilty for wanting to hibernate until the playoffs start. You are not alone.
The bottom line is this: At the end of the day, these are professionals playing basketball and no amount of fans beating thunder sticks are going to prevent the best team from winning a series. Would it be nice to have a game 7 at home? You bet, but not at the expense of the health of the team. Sleep well, dear readers. I'll wake you when the games matter again.
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