NBA Playoffs 2014: Best First Round Ever? This Year Sets Most Number Of Road Wins And Overtime Games In First Round! It's Not Even Finished!
The NBA Playoffs 2014 is shaping up to be one of the best ever. Only one series out of the eight is on its way to a sweep-no surprise that Miami is in it.
The Miami Heat have a 3-0 lead over the Charlotte Bobcats, and it looks like they will not have any problems. Heat are a 2 seed taking on Charlotte at number 7. It's the first playoff appearance of Michael Jordan's Bobcats. The last time they made the playoffs was in 2010. The Heat has beaten the Bobcats 19 straight times. The last time the Bobcats beat the Miami Heat was March 9, 2010. LeBron James was still in Cleveland then. (data from landofbasketball.com)
The other series have been much closer. 4 series are tied at 2-2 with 2 more Game 4s to be played. There are already 7 overtime games in the middle of the first round. Last season, there were 9 overtime games the ENTIRE playoffs. (data from ESPN)
The match-up between the Memphis Grizzlies (no.7) and Oklahoma City Thunder (no. 2) as well as the match-up between the Houston Rockets (no.4) and Portland Trailblazers (no.5) have three out of four games finishing in overtime. However, the Portland-Houston series is at 3-1 while the Memphis-Oklahoma series is tied at 2-2.
Homecourt advantage is thrown by the wayside. The Road teams have a 12-10 win advantage resulting in a lot of disappointed home crowds. Each game is very hard to call in terms of who will win, except the Miami series.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the top seeded Indiana Pacers vs. no. 8 Atlanta Hawks series. While the Western Conference was always expected to be wide-open, the Pacers has been one of two juggernauts of the East. Add the fact that Atlanta has the lowest playoff record (just 38 wins, the only playoff team with a losing record) and they are missing their best player (Al Horford), being tied with the Pacers is remarkable.
It is a sad fact that most of the attention was diverted to the racist statements from LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling when this could well be the best playoffs ever in terms of close games and unexpected outcomes
