If you think about it, there are words that can be easily interchanged through all sports. There's gliding, slamming, boarding, shooting, screening, checking, and so on. But while terms like these are in the lexicon of both hockey and basketball, it doesn't mean that I expect Tony Parker to skate down the ice, looking to slap a wrister past Ron Artest.
In other words, could someone tell the NBA their playoffs might run alongside the Stanley Cup Finals, but it's not quite the same. Or just maybe, the ballers are finally catching up.
It's unfortunate that ESPN doesn't "do" hockey anymore. I miss the nights of catching multiple glimpses and long stretches of postseason skate time. In my opinion, the NHL has the best championship run of them all.
Doesn't he know that those skaters are no more than barnstormers on ice right now?
The reason why? Will beats talent, momentum has a purpose, and home ice doesn't matter. How else could the top two seeds in the Western Conference (Detroit and Dallas) be looking for new fishing poles instead of prepping for round two?
The home ice argument doesn't matter so much in the Association (mainly because they don't play on frozen water), but the other two reasons I gave are starting to show a little more. As we turn the calendar to the month of May, three NBA series are looking mighty interesting. Granted, there have been upsets in the playoffs before, and this round still has a long way to go. But why are the current results so shocking this time around?
Look only to this time last year. The top four seeds in the 2005 playoffs (Detroit, San Antonio, Miami, and Phoenix) easily threw aside their first-round opponents, ending up with a combined 16-2 record. Plus, when comparing the bottom feeders, you might think the 2005 bunch was a tad bit better than their '06 counterparts.
Au contraire. This year, the same four teams (in the same four positions) almost all have two or more losses in their respective battles. Save for the Pistons, these squads are at least even with the seven and eight seeds heading into Game 5.
Most of the experts were saying that the Bulls and Kings didn't have much of a shot of winning four games combined, let alone the four needed to advance to the second round. It seemed that would be the case, with Sacramento getting destroyed in their first effort in San Antonio and Chicago losing two tough ones on South Beach.
However, both teams have bounced back, which has to have raised a few eyebrows. The home cookin' was enough to pull the lower seeds back even with the more experienced and talented opposition.
And don't forget about the Lakers. With Kobe's heroics leading the way, L.A.'s more famous team is up 3-2 on the favored Suns. That despite the fact Bryant is more than 12 points below his season average.
But there is a logical explanation as to how these three teams got to this position. As Woody Paige would so aptly say on "Around the Horn," look at the schedule. Over the last few weeks, Sac-town, Chi-town, and La-La Land have produced some hot basketball.
The Lakers were victorious in 11 of the regular season's last 14 games, including five in a row to end the year. Kings' fans embraced Ron Artest early and often. The welcome attitude paid off to the tune of a 26-14 record in his 40 regular season starts, part of it involving a 7-2 mark in the month of April.
Out East, people are continuing to see growth spurts from the Baby Bulls. With a team mainly comprised of guys who can't legally rent a car from your local Hertz, they proved to be more wily and gutsy than imagined. All but out of the playoff picture, the Windy City Kiddies won 12 of the stanza's last 14, with a 9-1 April résumé to boot.
Combining that with some stunning April results, top seeds San Antonio (lost three games at home), Miami (4-7), and Phoenix (5-5) should only help increase the confidence of certain opponents.
Like I said, we possibly have another week to go in the contests. These tides have basically turned on the strength of home-court, a much bigger luxury in basketball than hockey. However, the snowball effect is available to anybody in any and every aspect of sport. Momentum makes strange bedfellows, and some of the time, it doesn't include home sweet home.
Plus, when have you ever seen the Dallas Mavericks emerge as the odds-on favorite? This could be juicy.
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