Give And Go
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
The playoffs of the 2018-19 season of the National Basketball Association has been a fortnight old and so far there is hardly any surprises in the first round with teams expected to do well delivering accordingly.
As of this writing, two opening-round series had been concluded, those between Eastern Conference top seeds Milwaukee Bucks and eighth-seeds Detroit Pistons and fourth-seeds Boston Celtics and number five Indiana Pacers.
Milwaukee and Boston swept their opponents with ease, something that was somehow expected considering the depth advantage they have over their opponents.
The other Eastern Conference pairings are at 3-1, with the second seeds Toronto Raptors ahead of the Orlando Magic and number three team Philadelphia 76ers on top of the Brooklyn Nets.
Again nothing uncanny about that but I have to give credit to the Magic and Nets for not making it easy for their higher-seeded opponents with spirited challenges.
Brooklyn, in particular, has been impressive versus Philadelphia, very much into the game every time and presenting some serious scare.
Never mind if collectively they do not have much playoff experience, they are making things happen and it is something to build on moving forward when they eventually get eliminated.
Out in the West, the two-time defending NBA world champions Golden State Warriors are steady with a 3-1 lead over the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
They made the history books for a not-so-flattering reason when they lost a 31-point lead in Game Two to the Clippers and bowed to the defeat.
After that though, the Warriors have responded with dominating back-to-back victories and are seemingly set to go for the jugular come Game Five.
The Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs are knotted at 2-2 and highly likely will see their best-of-seven series go the full route considering how the two teams are finding ways to cancel the advantage of one another every time they meet and compete toe-to-toe.
The Portland Trail Blazers, the fourth seeds in the West, are up, 3-1, over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On the surface this comes as a surprise but if you happen to be following the series, the way Blazers stars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are carrying their team it is little wonder that they are up.
Portland has come to play and bent on exorcising its first-round exit last season and Oklahoma City is just not responding. Next question?
Then there is the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz where the former is up 3-0 and were actually gunning for a sweep in Game Four as this piece is being written.
If there is a surprise series in the first round of the NBA playoffs this season this has to be it.
The Rockets, on the lead of reigning MVP James Harden, are the better team of the two alright, but did we envision them having their way over the Jazz like that way they are doing it right now? Not really. Right?
But kudos to Houston for it has been playing its chips correctly and up to this point has presented itself as a puzzle to Utah.
While there are hardly any surprises in the first round to date, it still has been an eventful stretch of NBA playoff basketball. And the good thing about it all, it is set to get even more interesting as it goes deeper. Playoff basketball. Give me more of it.
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld senior reporter covering the Sports beat.
