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East's first round should be first-rate
Posted: Wednesday April 12, 2000 11:42 PM
Everyone's been saying that the Eastern Conference is wide open, and last Sunday's and Monday's games proved that. Indiana lost a couple of tough games. The Knicks lost a tough one to Miami and then beat Indiana in a controversial situation. Philadelphia just killed Miami at home. This means the first round of the playoffs will be really exciting, because even the lower teams will have a chance to knock off the upper part of the bracket. The closeness of recent games means that any team that makes the playoffs has to feel it has an opportunity to win. The teams that won those close games do get a confidence booster, but losing them doesn't necessarily take anything away. Take New York against Miami last Sunday. The Knicks outplayed Miami in that game and got beat by a shot that was really a heave. So I don't think the Knicks lost any confidence by losing that game. Maybe Miami took some confidence out of it, but I don't think the Heat could be overly excited about beating the Knicks in that situation.
Move it alongOn Tuesday, the NBA's Board of Governors voted to eliminate the delay-of-game warning in the final two minutes of games beginning next season. I think they felt that it was slowing up the game. The last minute of an NBA game can take 18 minutes, and I think they would like to eliminate anything that's really not important to the game. I think it's a good move. It's a situation where the strategy seems almost wasted. Trying to get a look at what the other team is going to run hardly ever works -- you don't have enough time. Teams really don't get a whole lot out of it, so I don't think there'll be much controversy over this one. Coach's breakdownMilwaukee really surprised me by beating Orlando last Monday, because the Bucks hadn't shown any inspiration to want to make the playoffs, particularly when they lost to Chicago on April 6. I thought that possibly ended their chances, but they play Orlando again next week. Ray Allen has played well for the Bucks in the past several games, and they have three great scorers. They don't have any interior game whatsoever on either end of the floor, but with the three stars they have, that game in Orlando should be a very good one. I like the Magic because of their aggressive defense and the fact that they're playing at home, but Milwaukee still has a chance. The other races are merely teams jockeying for position, but this game should really mean something. Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN/Sports Illustrated's "This Week in the NBA."
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