A Salute to the Favorites

While watching the Bulls and Celtics play Game 4 of their first round playoff match-up this afternoon, I got to thinking about past playoff series' I absolutely loved.

Right now, this Bulls/Celts series has been flat out awesome to watch, and it's quickly creeping up my list of best series' I've seen in my lifetime. The list includes Lakers/Kings from 2002, Boston/Cleveland from 2008, Chicago/New York from 1992, etc. Basically, it takes some real dramatic, gritty, transcendant basketball to make this list. I'm talking multiple momentum swings, players you love and truly despise, young players who flip the switch and put themselves on the NBA map, aging veterans who lay it all on the line, and, of course, the All-Stars who turn on the fifth gear. Right now, the Bulls and Celtics have all this going on at once, and it's great.

Going into the series, Boston was the clear favorite, and in my book, still is. They don't need Kevin Garnett to beat the Bulls, who are one of the most inexperienced playoff teams in the bunch. But the Bulls are making the case that they can pull off the upset. When they won today in two overtimes, my brain started spinning, and I thought back to 2007, when the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors completely shocked the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round.

Now, this is a seven-seed against a two, but the similarities are there. In '07, I openly pulled for the Warriors. My conclusion after today is that I won't pull for Chicago anymore.

Even though I hate the Celtics, I want them to advance. It's nothing personal against Chicago, but I'd prefer the balance of the NBA to stay exactly where it is.

It's not because it wouldn't be great to see them lose right now and disappear from the collective NBA fan conscious for the summer, but because it would mean another underdog moving on to a series they couldn't handle.

The '07 Warriors got hot at the right time against Dallas, but looked awful and got bounced in five games in the Western Conference Semifinals against Utah. The Jazz dismantled the Warriors and made them look like a J.V. team. It wasn't even close.

Because of that, I want all the favorites to move on and eventually play each other. Underdogs are the most overrated aspect of sports in terms of entertainment value. It goes for literally every sport.

I look at it like this: underdogs winning is like a one-night stand. It feels great in the short term. It's a quick thrill that gets the adrenaline going. But the next day, or in the NBA's case, the next round, it just feels awkward and doesn't seem nearly as worthwhile as the alternative. In this year's NBA playoffs, we don't need upsets.

I mean, wouldn't you rather see the big boys play each other for all the marbles in a month rather than watch this year's Cinderella seven or eight-seed get humbled and destroyed in a four-game sweep by one of said big boys after they shocked a top team early? I know I would.

A song said the waiting is the hardest part. To NBA fans, I say tough luck. Get some patience. The great baskeball you long for is yet to be played. If you stop looking for the early upset, you'll get the memories and highlights you crave. Don't settle for the one-night stand.

Cleveland/Boston, Cleveland/Orlando, Lakers/Portland, Lakers/Denver, Lakers/Cleveland. They're all top seeds, they all have every quality you look for in good, entertaining basketball, and they all need to advance.

Leave the underdogs in the dust.