NBA Playoff Thoughts

• If you see someone storming the court in Boston on Saturday trying to take a steel pipe to the knees of Nenad Kristic and/or Jeff Green, there's a 90 percent chance it's my Dad. And no one in the Boston crowd would try to stop him. In fact, they would encourage it! 

• How can you dismantle a starting five that had not lost a playoff series together when healthy? A healthy Perkins in Game 7 could have won last year's Lakers series, and Perkins in this series puts a frontline of Perk/Garnett against Bosh/Ilgauskas/Joel Anthony 

• Is there anything more awkward than LeBron going against Delonte West in this series? I'd be fascinated to learn if West is using the endless trash talk possibilities (which I can't print here) to his advantage. 

• Somehow, Joel Anthony played 39 minutes in Miami's series-clinching victory against Philadelphia without taking a single shot. I know this happened in the first round, but I felt something needed to be said for that.

• How the %*#@%& is Juwan Howard still on an NBA roster?

• The Dallas-Los Angeles series feels like a referendum on Dirk Nowitzki's career. In 2006, Dallas  got over the hump by beating San Antonio on their way to the NBA Finals where they got screwed by the referees lost to Miami in six. Now, in 2011 and with the window of opportunity beginning to close, the Mavs have another one of those opportunities. This time, they're up 2-0 against the two-time defending chamipons as the series shifts to Dallas. The Mavericks need to get it done, and Dirk has to lead the charge like in the first two games. No excuses, get it done.

• Speaking of those 2006 NBA Finals, it was almost as if the NBA was playing with Mark Cuban when it assigned Bennett Salvatore to ref Game 2 at Staples. If you remember, Salvatore was part of the officiating crew that officiated this game. 25 free throw attempts for Wade (to match Dallas' total) and 49 attempts for the Heat? Egads!

• Bigger upset: The US defeating the Soviets in the 1980 Winter Olympics, or Ron Artest winning the citizenship award?

• Moment of silence for Artest, who will be missing Game 3 after his WWE-esque clothesline from hell on J.J. Barea. Also, moment of silence for the champions.

• Barea proved to be Goran Dragic 2.0 in Wednesday's Game 2, but he was much more impactful in that second half spurt than Dragic was during the Suns-Lakers series last year.

• There's bad, there's really bad, there's God-awful and then there's Steve Blake's Game 2 performance.

• If the Mavericks lose this series and there is a controversial call in Game 5, 6 or 7, Mark Cuban may receive the biggest fine in NBA history for sure-to-come postgame comments.

• The Lakers collapsed in Game 1 and played terribly in Game 2, but if Kobe's 3-point attempt in Game 1 (which was absolutely dead on) goes down, there's a completely different feel to this series.

• If gambling were legal and you believe in the whole "heart of a champion" thing, there are some interesting lines on the Boston-Miami and Dallas-L.A. series. Boston is +425 to win the series, the Lakers are +210 and L.A. is +260 to win the West. Not saying I would do those, just interesting to point out.

• My prediction: Boston wins its two home games and sets up a Game 5 in Miami with the series knotted at 2-2. Los Angeles wins two of the next three, to set up a Game 6 for the series at American Airlines Center. If that happens, imagine the pressure in that building on that night in Dallas. There's no chance the Mavericks win a Game 7 on the road, and I think this series gets decided then in front of a tense Dallas crowd.

• Is there a more random starter on a team that finished atop its conference than Keith Bogans?

• I love when Chicago runs the "OK everyone, let's clear the heck out of the way for Derrick Rose" offense. One of my favorite offenses in the league.

• The only problem Rose gets into (obviously) is when he falls in love with the 3-point shot. He's improved from beyond the arc, but 15 threes in the first two games is too much.

• Wait, what's that? You want to know if I'm still bitter about Rose missing those free throws at the end of the 2008 NCAA Championship Game? Of course I am!

• Does anyone outside of Atlanta think the Hawks have a chance of winning this series? Furthermore, does anyone in Atlanta think the Hawks have a chance of winning this series?

• When you're being paid $119 million, you have to be the unquestioned star of your team, even if you're not worth that much. I can't say enough about Joe Johnson's performance in Game 1 (12-18 FG, 5-5 3PT, 34 PTS). That's how players being paid that much are supposed to perform on the road, in the second round of the playoffs. But then he goes and puts up a very quiet 16 points in a Game 2 loss. Barkley made a great point on "Inside the NBA" when he said he wished it was Joe Johnson's game mixed with Jamal Crawford's mindset.

• Speaking of Crawford, you always know something's going to happen when he has the ball in his hands. It could be horrifying, crazy, extraordinary or all of the above, but something is going to happen.

• Remember when Marvin Williams was the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft? You know, ahead of guys like Deron Williams and Chris Paul?

• Atlanta had everything go right in Game 1 (hitting all of their jumpers), but that won't last over a seven-game series, and Chicago is a lock for the Eastern Conference Finals.

• Last thing, nobody likes playing the "what if?" game more than me, but imagine how much the landscape of the league changes if Chicago doesn't hit its 1.7 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft lottery and that pick goes to Miami (the team who finished '08 with the league's worst record).

• I thought the apocalypse would come before I typed the words, "Zach Randolph leads team in playoffs."Putting aside Monday's Game 2, he has been money throughout this postseason, which I should have realized when I knew San Antonio had absolutely no one to guard him.

• Randolph and Gasol have owned the glass this playoffs, and Gasol has developed the always important foul-line jumper, which can be a big help to a team's offense.

• Sam Presti has built the Thunder into a big-time team by making sound moves throughout his tenure. He prepared for the Lakers' big men by having four guys he can throw at them (Ibaka/Perkins/Collison/Harden). In the 2009 Draft, he took Harden (because he fit the team much better) than Tyreke Evans.

• While the better storylines are in Boston-Miami and Dallas-L.A., this series should be the most fun to watch. 

• Last thing, shout-out to Gary Neal, whose Game 5 3-pointer prevented me from losing my life savings.