Blogging the NBA Playoffs: The YouTube Edition

While most of the focus here has been on the NHL playoffs, the NBA playoffs have produced some interesting moments as well. With a little help from YouTube, let's get caught up.

For reference, here are my predictions for the first round, which are slightly better than my NHL predictions.

And with that, some of the highlights so far of the NBA playoffs.

The Kings vs. The Champs
Sacto's played much better than an 8-seed has any right to, and were it not for this freak bounce at the end of Game 2, they could have had the champs on the ropes.



Of course, some would point out that karma produced this result for the Kings a few nights later.



In any case, all but the first game of the series could have gone either way, which makes me believe that even with a 3-2 lead, the Spurs shouldn't begin game-planning for Dirk Nowitzki quite yet.

Mamba Strikes Again
After this overtime dagger by Kobe Bryant in Game 4, I figured that the Suns were done:



However, the Suns roared back and dominated Game 5, which is why I believe that if the Lakers move on (and they probably will), they won't go very far. Great teams shut the door when they need to, and the Lakers came up flat last night.

"By God King, What is Raja Bell Doing?"
We should all be rooting for the series to go seven, if only to see if things escalate after this incident:



As Simmons mentioned in his column, this series is real nasty. Kobe was later ejected for getting his second technical (for jawing with the referee), though the real reason is because David Stern didn't want anyone on the Suns to finish the job.

Flashbacks to Marv Albert and the NBA on NBC
Though they fell behind 3-2 with last night's loss to the Heat, the Chicago Baby Bulls have been game all series, and have a chance to force a Game 7 if they can continue their winning ways at home in Game 6.

Frankly, I don't know how the Bulls every lose at home with this little video to fire up the crowd. If they win Game 6, this little ditty is at least 20% responsible.



And the live version...



In Other News...
• The Clippers advanced, setting the stage for the Battle of Los Angeles in round two.

• The Grizzlies might just be the worst playoff team ever in the NBA, so I'm hesitant to put too much stock into the Mavs' sweep of their opening round series.

• Watch the pundits turn on LeBron in a heartbeat if he can't lead the Cavs past the Washington Wizards.

• Is anyone paying attention to the Pistons-Bucks series, or did we all just assume that it was over from day one?

• Vince Carter and Jason Kidd are going to carry the Nets passed the Pacers. Expect Larry Legend to blow the team up after this series, and Nets fans to start frantically checking Carter's nba.com biography to make sure that he doesn't have any convocations scheduled this month.

I'm looking forward to the rest of round one, and will be reporting back as things develop. In the meantime, try to enjoy some basketball as we get a couple of days reprieve from the NHL.