The Miami Heat won two games at home against the Charlotte Bobcats, which isn't normally the kind of thing that qualifies as interesting. But in these playoffs, it's an anomaly. The Heat were the only higher seed to hold serve during the first week of the postseason that has already produced several memorable games and the possibility of head-scratching upsets.
The Pacers and Spurs got blown out at home and the Thunder let one slip away. The Rockets were upstaged by the Blazers and the Clippers and Warriors have already established the first-round standard for nastiness and mutual disdain. The Nets and Raptors are a tabloid writer's dream. The Wizards stunned the Bulls twice in Chicago.
What happened last night
What happened last night
Things change quickly in the postseason, and it's entirely possible -- even likely -- that come late May, we'll be looking at status quo in the conference finals. But there are fascinating subplots and quickly-developing narrative arcs revolving around young players everywhere you look in the first round, from John Wall and Bradley Beal to Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan. This is very good for the NBA.
The playoffs have turned the spotlight on the emerging generation of players and developing teams who have been marginalized by the networks' insistence on showcasing the handful of glamor-market teams on its national broadcasts. There were exactly two games on ABC during the regular season that didn't feature the Bulls, Lakers, Knicks or Heat, which led to a lot of boring Sunday afternoons and hand-wringing about tanking.
It's been said that the league thrives on marketing stars, but that isn't exactly true. It thrives on big markets. If stars happen to play there, all the better. A player like Kevin Durant can transcend a small market, but he's an exception, not the rule.
What the league doesn't do all that well is showcase good basketball. The Wizards weren't on ABC or TNT at all and the Raptors and Bobcats barely even made it to NBA TV. The 54-win Blazers were a network afterthought, and even last year's conference finalists from Memphis and Indiana were right around the middle of the pack in appearances. The Pacers didn't pop up on ABC until the final weekend of the season, which at least was one more game than the Grizzlies got.
To be fair, some of this is the inevitable result of scheduling games months before the season even starts, and those big-market teams tend to draw larger ratings. But the problem with that risk-averse strategy is that it makes it too difficult to identify up-and-coming teams and showcase them appropriately. National broadcasts tend to be a year behind the curve.
With the Knicks and Lakers out of the playoffs, the first round offers the league an opportunity to bring casual fans up to date. The NBA scheduled the Clippers, Warriors and Bobcats for its marquee 3:30 p.m. ET opening-weekend spots and the Wizards will get one of the Sunday showcase spots this weekend. The Clips and Dubs are well-known entities at this point because they've been able to build on past playoff appearances, but they have spent most of their NBA existences on the fringes of the league's consciousness. The Bobcats and Wizards have barely existed at all.
Everyone with League Pass and a Synergy account already knows the ins and outs of these teams, but most of the world doesn't consume basketball that way. Al Jefferson is not exactly a household name outside of Prentiss, Mississippi. This kind of exposure is invaluable in building reputations and showcasing the league's depth.
The breakout stars of the first week have been the Washington Wizards, or more specifically, Wall and Beal. No other team in the league has a starting backcourt this young and this dynamic. Wall and Beal were fearless -- sometime to a fault -- against the mighty force of a Bulls' defense designed to stop them, and they emerged with two improbable road victories.
Then there are the Toronto Raptors, who won a franchise-record 48 games and are learning very quickly what it takes to be successful in April. The first round matchup with the veteran-heavy Nets may be daunting, but it's the best thing that could have happened to them. If they find a way to win, it will accelerate their learning curve. Even if they lose in six or seven games, the experience will be invaluable.
Out West, the Blazers showed why they have been late-night cult favorites with two impressive wins in Houston. Clutch may or may not exist, but Lillard is the working definition of the phrase. LaMarcus Aldridge merely had 46 and 18 in the opener, which he then followed up with a dominating 43-point performance that sent the Blazers back to Portland with a 2-0 series lead and the Rockets unraveling in real time.
If you followed the league closely this season, you already know that none of this is surprising (ok, the Wizards winning twice in Chicago is a major shock). There was very little separation in the East behind the Heat and Pacers and the West was loaded with nine very good teams. Anyone can beat anyone, given the right break or two.
The All-Star teams were dominated by 20-somethings and Durant (still just 25 years old) is the overwhelming favorite to win the MVP. We're likely to see a major shift on the All-NBA teams when those results are announced.
We are in the middle stage of a transformation that has been bubbling below the surface for the last few years as the league transitioned away from the aging stars of the Celtics and Lakers. The Heat stepped into that void and the Spurs have stubbornly hung around well past what many thought would be their expiration date. But those teams aren't getting younger and Miami is about to feel the squeeze of contract options and salary cap restrictions.
We haven't reached that transitional moment yet; until someone knocks off Miami and/or San Antonio they remain the favorites to meet again in the Finals. But we're getting closer, and the league is getting better and stronger along the way.