OK, I'm officially surprised

So, it turns out the Warriors were not able to execute down the stretch in any of the close games with the Jazz, and they lost the series 4-1 last night. It was sort of painful to watch all those times when they came so close to winning and weren't able to come up with it. What made it even worse was the fact that the Warriors lost their cool in several situations in the playoffs and got themselves fined or ejected. There's just no excuse for that, regardless of what is happening in the game.

On the plus side, I'm still hoping the Spurs can pull it together and advance past the Suns and then eliminate the Jazz on their way to the NBA finals. Assuming the Spurs are out, I would rather see the Suns in the finals.

Warriors make history

After blowing a late lead in game 5 Tuesday, the Warriors came home to Oracle Arena and put together one of the most dominant third quarters I've seen to close out the series and send the Mavericks home.

Everyone at the game got a yellow "We Believe" t-shirt and sign and the effect of this looked quite intimidating for the visiting team. I hope they continue this in the second round. They even hung a huge version of the t-shirt on the outside of the arena.

Apparently the entire crowd stood for the second half and at times it was so loud that it was difficult to hear the announcers' commentary.

At this point, I think it's fair to say I would be surprised if the Warriors did not make it to the Western Conference finals.

Warriors vs. Spurs in Western Conference Finals?

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but is it possible we could see the Warriors in the Western Conference finals? It looks like the Mavericks have their backs to the wall at this point since the Warriors have gone up 3 to 1 and still have a home game left (plus yet another win in Dallas would not be that surprising given recent history).

So, the Warriors would play either the Jazz or the Rockets in the second round. In either case they would have to win on the road but they were 2-1 against the Rockets this year and 2-2 against the Jazz. More importantly they won their most recent game against both teams which was after the big trade.

Assuming the Spurs capitalize on their 2-1 lead and put away the Nuggets in the first round, they would most likely face the Suns in the second round. The Spurs were 2-1 against the Suns this season, winning the most recent matchup. Assuming defense prevails over the Suns high scoring offense, we could see my two fave teams in the Western Conference finals.

At that point I think I would have to give the edge to the Spurs though I did see the Warriors lay down a major blowout earlier in the season against the Spurs at Oracle Arena. Probably sealed the Spurs fate on that one by talking them up to Kathy before the game.

Warriors shine, Spurs disappoint

Well, it was a night for the road teams, at least in the two NBA playoff series that I'm interested in. The Spurs couldn't quite come up with a win. You know it's not a good sign when the big three of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili all can't come up with more than 20 points (especially Tony). Hopefully this will be a wake up call and things will change in game 2.

Luckily for me, the Warriors continue to stun the rest of the league, toppling the Mavericks in their first playoff game. So, apparently whatever the Warriors secret was to get three wins against the Mavs in the regular season (two of which were not "given" to them like the last one was), is still working for them. Go Warriors!

Warriors in the playoffs!

Hard to believe, but the Warriors beat Portland last night in the regular season finale to get the last playoff spot. It's their first time in the playoffs since 1994. To give you an idea of how long ago this was... I was still in high school when the Warriors were last in the playoffs.

The more impressive thing is the Warriors beat the Mavericks in all three of their meetings this season, which is something no other NBA team was able to do. I think a lot of that success has to be due to Don Nelson's coaching and previous experience as Mavericks head coach. I'm hopeful the Warriors can upset the Mavs in round one of the playoffs and clear the way for the Spurs to win the championship.

Go Spurs Go

It's looking like it might be a tough road to the NBA finals for the Spurs this year (Kings first round, Mavs second round, Suns third round and then Pistons in finals). Those are just my predictions of course but it's a pretty strong team they're facing in each series if it turns out that way.

That being said, I watched most of game 1 with the Kings today and it was a pretty resounding victory. The final score was 122-88 after they had a 73-39 halftime lead. It's pretty clear that adding Van Exel and Finley has improved the Spurs' depth over last year.

Spurs Win Championship!

Well, it didn't happen as quickly as I expected, but the Spurs pulled off an amazing performance to close out the second half, showing the kind of defensive intensity they had been missing since games 1 and 2 in this series. And once the defense was clicking like it usually does, the offense worked itself out.

Way to go Spurs!

Spurs win pivotal Game 5

What a game it was tonight... it came down to Robert Horry making some clutch threes down the stretch and the Spurs defense stepping up at the end to win by one point in overtime.

This game reminded me somewhat of one from the 1999 playoffs when Sean Elliot hit a miracle three while falling out of bounds at the buzzer to win... at that point you could see that the Spurs were destined to win the title that year. At this point I think it's pretty clear that the Spurs have what it takes to win a close one with the Pistons, and I expect Game 6 on Tuesday to be another battle.

Go Spurs Go!