In today’s world, the immediate, visceral reaction to anything these days seems to be, “Where can I find the negative and harp on it?”
When it comes to the NBA playoffs, there have been a few blowouts. So obviously, throw the whole thing out. Also, toss in some free college, while you’re at it. — Twitter
At any rate, if this first round has proven anything thus far, it’s that people complain just to complain, and they’re good at finding reasons to do so. It’s a gift. On the realist side of things, the amount of blowouts stinks, but is an aberration.
When the NBA switched its first-round playoff format from a five-game series to seven, the obvious thought was packing in more basketball played by the game’s elite players would be a good thing. Five-game series in anything other than baseball overwhelmingly favor the Game 1 winner.
Around 80 percent of the teams that win Game 1 in the NBA playoffs go on to win the series. Shortening the series only makes that hole harder to dig out of, but the real reason we shouldn’t get all hot and bothered is because this year is just a phase.
The longer the NBA playoffs go, the better off we all are. After this, it’s a few months without team sports events of any consequence, until college football begins and the NFL gins up its marketing machine into high gear.
We also should note that only two years ago, the first round going seven games gave us basketball utopia. Four series went to seven games, and another went six. Yes, the margin for error is always a little wider because you have fringe teams playing top teams — sometimes that gets ugly — but for the most part, we get competitive games and series.
As for the 2016 first round, the series’ arcs aren’t the problem, it’s been the margin of victory. Pacers-Raptors and Hawks-Celtics look like series that could legitimately go seven games. We’ll have to see what goes on with Blazers-Clippers.
If the games were great, we wouldn’t care. The point is, we all hate blowouts, and when they happen, “Things need to change because I’m not entertained at this moment!” It’s another microcosm of the microwave society we live in, particularly with sports, but that’s sort of how this NBA season has been playing out.
Anyone paying much attention would note that the chasm between the top two seeds in the West and everyone else has been wider than Wyoming, while in the East, the same feel exists with Cleveland and then everyone else. In the West, the gap betwixt the No. 3 and 4 seeds seems extreme as well, so all of it has created a rough first round this year, and then a much more competitive second round in a few places.
The conference finals should be epic, though, so whatever angst you have, it will be taken care of the longer we roll along.
The point is, this year is an aberration, not the norm, and more basketball is always better than less basketball. The options are “have more games and perhaps years when there are a lot of blowouts,” or “have less basketball and no options either way.”
Enjoy the NBA playoffs while they’re here, no matter how many games they take to finish. The alternative is much, much worse… if you truly love the NBA.
