It was an NBA season that featured games that were downright hideous at times. It was so bad that last year's best team, the Chicago Bulls, finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, and in one repulsive outing scored an NBA record-low 49 points in a game.
Fortunately, it's not a sign of what's to come in the postseason, which begins this afternoon. In fact with all the riffraff cast aside (could the public really stomach another Washington Wizards-New Jersey Nets game?), the NBA playoffs offer intriguing first-round matchups in what figures to be the most competitive postseason in years.
Can the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat get through a five-game series without a punch thrown or a body slammed? Will Detroit Pistons forward Grant Hill win his first playoff series? Is there enough life in the aging legs of the Houston Rockets' three Dream Teamers to overcome the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA version of the "Family Feud"?
What's certain this season is that Michael Jordan isn't standing in anyone's way, leaving each of the 16 playoff teams to think they have a legitimate shot (well, maybe seven have a legitimate shot) of being the last team to win an NBA title this century.
"In the East, it's very equal and a lot of parity from teams one through eight," said Miami Heat coach Pat Riley. "I think anybody can beat anybody, if you're not on top of your game."
Riley should know. The Heat finished the regular season in a three-way tie for the best record in the Eastern Conference (Miami, Orlando and Indiana all finished 33-17), and have the top seed because of tiebreakers. As a reward, Miami opens the playoffs today with a first-round matchup against its biggest rival, the Knicks.
The history between the teams is well-documented: Miami forward P. J. Brown winning the Charlie Ward toss of 1997; New York forward Larry Johnson squaring off with Alonzo Mourning in last year's Game 4 of the opening round, an incident that also featured Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy portraying a dust mop while attached to Mourning's leg.
The players don't like each other. The coaches -- who were once good friends and colleagues -- don't like each other. The Heat won in 1997, the Knicks won last year. The third time around is so hot, Don King probably wouldn't mind getting in on the promotion.
"This series is beyond everybody's control," Riley said. "This is preordained. This is something the gods wanted. It's the rubber match -- and here we go."
With all that has happened the past two seasons, no one expects any more incidents. Then again, no one expected Mourning and Johnson to square off last year -- an incident that got both players suspended, and likely cost Miami the series.
"It's intense and so the emotion is going to be high, and it should be high -- I'd be disappointed if it wasn't," Riley said. He added, however, that "both teams have matured, hopefully, out of past transgressions."
The other captivating first-round matchup features the third-seeded Orlando Magic and sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. Philadelphia won the season series, 2-1, and Orlando coach Chuck Daly might have to reach into his "Jordan Rules" bag to find a way to stop Sixers shooting guard and the league's top scorer, Allen Iverson.
"This is a team that we haven't really been able to beat all season," Daly said of the Sixers, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 1991. "We've got to play somebody, so away we go."
The preseason favorite in the East, Indiana, is hoping its postseason yields better results than a regular season that had coach Larry Bird upset with his team's lackluster play. The Pacers, who extended Chicago to seven games in last year's Eastern Conference finals, get Milwaukee in the first round, but are not assured of home-court advantage beyond that (Orlando would get home-court advantage in the second round if both teams advance).
"It was one of our goals to win the division, but it was also one of our goals to win the Eastern Conference and we didn't do that," Bird said. "It's very important to have home-court advantage in the playoffs, but it looks like we're just going to have it in the first round. I've even heard from these guys that it doesn't bother them to go on the road in the playoffs and win a game. We'll see."
In the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs locked up the league's best record -- and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs -- by winning 31 of their last 36 games, including a season-ending five straight.
The key for San Antonio has been the play of Tim Duncan and David Robinson, both among eight players who finished the regular season averaging double figures in points and rebounds. The two are also among the top 10 in blocked shots, and played with a toughness and enthusiasm down the stretch that is a rarity for two perceived "softies."
"If it's mental toughness that this team has been searching for, I think they've showed it for the last two months," said coach Gregg Popovich, whose team will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.
The NBA's deepest team, the Portland Trail Blazers, dominated the league most of the season before losing four of their last five games. The Blazers have more than enough talent to get by the Phoenix Suns in the first round, but the way the team played down the stretch has some players concerned. Hitting the skids late is not unusual for the Blazers: The team has lost in the first round of the playoffs a record six straight times.
"Our biggest opponent right now is ourselves," said backup point guard Greg Anthony. "We've got a lot of basketball to learn, in terms of winning."
In the West, the best first-round series will feature the Rockets and the Lakers. Many said the Rockets became a legitimate contender with the signing of Scottie Pippen, while the Lakers were considered good from the start and seemed to improve with the signing of Dennis Rodman (since waived) and the trade for Glen Rice.
Both teams have been major disappointments, yet both teams have legitimate shots of winning the West. Still, you get the feeling that any team that wins the conference will have to go through the Utah Jazz, the defending champion of the West which has to find a way to shake off a 5-5 finish to the season.
"It's going to be a short playoffs for us if we don't get it done as a group," Jazz forward Karl Malone said. "Every team out there now wants to beat the Jazz, and every team out there is capable of doing it.
"We shouldn't need long, drawn-out speeches from coaches or anybody," Malone added. "Because now, if getting to the NBA Finals twice and losing doesn't motivate you, I think you're in the wrong profession."
Pub Date: 5/08/99