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The NBA playoffs were a lot of fun and the NBA Finals could be a lot of fun but what’s been happening in these conference finals the past week or so has been pretty darn silly.
And not very entertaining.
While Steph Curry and the Warriors are a win away from sweeping the Mavs, the Celtics and Heat are all tied up at two games apiece and their series has been one of the dumbest series I’ve ever seen.
I mean that will all respect as I’m a Celtics fan and would enjoy watching them beat the Heat and advancing to the Finals but what’s been going on these four games has been… something.
Take last night, for instance. The Celtics needed a win at home to even the series. The Heat needed a win to take control of the series before heading home to Miami for Game 5.
So what happened?
The Celtics jumped out to an 18-1 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back, winning the game 102-82 to even things up.
The game was never entertaining. The suspense that you look for in a huge playoff game was never there. We all just spent the first few quarters wondering if the Heat would even score 50 points in the game.
It was bad. But it was still good for a Celtics fan because a win is a win, they say, and they are right – being tied 2-2 is good, no matter how you get there.
But the other games in the series have been just as lackluster. The Heat used a big third-quarter run in Game 1 to win by 11.
The Celtics then won Game 2 in Miami by 25 points in a game that never really felt that close.
The Heat then jumped out to a 26-point lead early in Game 3 and held on to win 109-103 after things got a little nutty down the stretch.
And then last night the Celtics had a 36-point lead at one point and, again, started the night WITH AN 18-1 LEAD.
A lot of this has to do with injuries, we can assume. Marcus Smart has missed two games for the Celtics.
Jimmy Butler missed the second half of Game 3 with a knee injury and didn’t look like himself at all last night as he finished with just 6 points.
The Heat were without Tyler Herro in Game 4, which hurt their offense.
Kyle Lowry missed the first two games of the series.
Guys are banged up, it’s what can happen this time of the year.
Now the series goes back to Miami and good luck trying to predict what will happen there. I have to think one of the teams will have a 30-point lead at some point but I don’t know which team that will be, which says all you need to know about how this series is going.
But yeah, the NBA Finals should be fun. At least I hope it will be fun. Come on, NBA Finals… be fun!
Quick hits: NHL fans crush the Panthers for being swept… Theo Pinson takes shot at other NBA teams on Twitter… New Thor trailer is out… And more.
– The Florida Panthers had the most points in the NHL regular season but got swept out of the playoffs by the Lightning last night and fans crushed them for it.
– Mavericks guard Theo Pinson refused to change his t-shirt before Game 3 of the Warriors-Mavs series and then he followed that up by calling out other NBA teams on Twitter.
– There’s a new Thor movie coming out and last night the trailer was released. You can see that right here.
– Speaking of movies, my pal Caroline Darney has a review of the new Top Gun movie, which she absolutely loved.
