NBA Playoffs - 1st round Action Has Been Fantastic!

The 1st round of the NBA Playoffs has been very exciting and interesting this year. I thought I would take the time to highlight some of the more interesting developments:

1) The Dallas Mavericks may have beaten up on an injured Spurs team (with Ginobili out and Duncan at less than 100%), but I think the real story was the coaching adjustment by the Dallas Mavericks to place JJ Barea into the game. Who is JJ Barea? Good question. He's a young third year 6'0" player from Puerto Rico who went to Northeastern. The main reason his play was so helpful is that he is a lot quicker than Jason Kidd, so suddenly, the Mavericks had someone who could stay in front of Tony Parker. Yes, Tony Parker did torch the Mavs for 38 points in the Spurs only win, but JJ Barea saved Game 1. Moreover, JJ Barea went a team-best +17 in only 27 minutes in Game 1, +36 in only 33 minutes in Game 3, -6 in 24 minutes in Game 4, and a team-best +18 in 26 minutes in Game 5. I still don't think the Mavericks will get by Denver in the next round (I'm assuming Denver moves on). The important thing to note here is that the Mavericks were hiding an important asset all season.

2) I was surprised to learn when the playoffs started that the Blazers had still been insisting on starting rookie Nicolas Batum at SF each game and playing him about 18 minutes... while fellow rookie Rudy Fernandez plays 26 minutes off the bench. Apparently, most of Portland is upset about this and in the last game, Fernandez started over Batum in the 3rd quarter finally and it will be interesting to see what happens in Game 6 in Houston.

3) In game 5 Orlando had a 45-33 advantage based on Howard's 24 rebounds. But in game 4 Philly outrebounded Orlando 43-37, in game 3 it was even, in game 2 Orlando had a 44-37 advantage, in game 1 Philly outrebounded Orlando 37-35. I'm not sure if Orlando's struggles are based on Rashard Lewis and Turkoglu's injuries hampering them, but it almost seems like no one is helping Orlando's Dwight Howard rebound. It does not appear to be a good long-term strategy. I'm very excited though for a Game 7 between these teams, assuming Philly finds a way to win game 6 when Orlando is without Dwight Howard (suspension for lethal elbow) and SG Courtney Lee (face got destroyed by a different elbow from Howard).

4) Boston-Chicago has been an amazing series. Here is one good story (which mentions Stephon Marbury's bizarre reluctance to ever shoot). This story makes some comparisons between this instant-classic and the 2006 2nd round matchup between San Antonio and Dallas.