If the East needs one thing to brag about this year, it could be that the favored teams have been more dominant than the West, so far. Going into Sunday, the four top teams in the East have combined for 10 victories compared to nine for the West.
That might be the only victory for the East though when it comes to squaring off against the more stacked West, come Finals time.
The Timberwolves (2-1 lead) are trying to graduate from the first round, and look to be on their way, barring an insurgence from the Nuggets. The big three from Minnesota (Sam Cassell, Kevin Garnett, Latrell Sprewell) all are in the top eight in scoring and have combined for a ridiculous 70 percent of their teams' points (203/287).
Denver won their first home playoff game in nine years but still looks overmatched at times due to lack of experience. Minnesota just looks way more confident.
Indiana advanced on Sunday and looked to be a group of men on a mission, using bottled frustration and anger from previous years to whoop the Celtics into an early summer.
Milwaukee has been the surprise team of the year and playoffs. Having lost Ray Allen, Cassell, and Gary Payton, they were expected to be a bigger joke than Shaquille O'Neal's rap album "Shaq Diesel." However, they have shocked the Pistons and the world by not only winning a game, but by almost taking command of the series.
Michael Redd and Desmond Mason have been superb in breaking down Detroit's defense, except big bad Ben Wallace has kept tight security on the glass (15.7 rpg) leading to a 2-1 series lead. The winner of this series will meet the Nets in round two.
The Rockets-Lakers series has been one of the closest with L.A. narrowly escaping game one with a single point victory. Team play has been the moral of this series so far as Yao Ming and Shaq have not dominated games. Instead, the play of Karl Malone, Steve Francis, and Kobe Bryant has been the difference maker. Houston choked in overtime on Sunday, giving LA a commanding 3-1 lead.
Barring a comeback upset though, it is expected the Lakers will advance to resume their annual match-up with the Spurs as San Antonio has raced to a 3-0 series lead against Memphis and unless Tim Duncan gets locked out of the arena, the Grizzlies likely will be hibernating for the rest of winter.
The other member of the 2003 NBA Finals, the New Jersey Nets, have been having some fun of their own as well. New York was thought to stand a chance in this series, right up until the tip of game one. The Nets still get no respect and love it. Dunking at will, they swept the Knicks 4-0.
Kenyon Martin and Jason Kidd have played Bonnie and Clyde to New York, torturing the Knicks at will and not letting them breathe a chance of hope. It should be noted that Allan Houston, the Knicks' best player, has missed the entire series. It should also be noted that the grossly overpaid Shandon Anderson has played 99 minutes compared to the 66 minutes logged by the underrated Mike Sweetney and DeMarr Johnson combined.
Sacramento and Dallas score so much that their bench has players averaging more than Knick starters. Sacramento is carrying a 2-1 series lead, but this series will go right down to the wire. Both teams own a plethora of players that can score and take over for stretches of games. The Kings' Doug Christie nearly got himself a triple double while Dallas rookie Marquis Daniels dropped 22 points in Dallas' lone victory. Running and gunning has been the Mavs' strategy while Sacramento likes to post up Chris Webber to dominate the paint.
Capping off the playoffs is a series only people in Miami and New Orleans know about. The Hornets-Heat have played some terrific games and a game seven looks to be in the cards.
The Hornets seem to be rejuvenated off recent speculation that Jamal Mashburn may retire, winning game three and cutting Miami's series lead to 2-1. New Orleans has only scrounged up 219 points all series, bad enough for a 73 points-per-game average. Minnesota's big three almost have that much point productivity alone.
Miami seems to be the dominant team, peaking just at the right time and could provide a great second round match-up with the Pacers.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
