This is why I think all those people who dismiss the NBA and can only talk about the virtues of college ball are full of crap. Did you happen to catch any of the Golden State/Dallas series? In perhaps the greatest upset in NBA playoff history, the 8th seeded, 42-40 Warriors (in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years!) took out the # 1 seeded, NBA best 67-15 Mavericks in 6 surprise-filled games. Even with a gimpy Baron Davis, this band of castoffs and misfits ran the Mavs off the floor and became the first 8th seed to ever eliminate a # 1 seed in a best-of-7 series. Except for Game # 2 in Dallas and the last 3 minutes of Game # 5 when they blew a 9-point point lead and got outscored 15-0 down the stretch, the Warriors unorthodox (and incredibly fun) style of play totally frustrated the heavily favored Mavs (who had no answer for their speed and versatility).

So Dallas and the Miami Heat (who got swept 4-0 by the young and talented Chicago Bulls) become the first pair of teams from the previous year's Finals to bow out in the first round of the playoffs since 1957--it's kinda cool to watch stuff that hasn't happened for 50 years! And the Warriors catch two breaks: Utah and Houston are going to a Game 7 on Saturday night, giving Golden State an extra couple of days to rehab their injuries (Matt Barnes has hamstring issues as well); and they play the winner of that series rather than Phoenix or San Antonio, both of which would be a much bigger challenge--if it's Houston, it should be fun to see what this team can do against Yao and T-Mac. With the Magic swept out of the playoffs by the far superior Pistons, I just got me a new underdog to root for.

--Matthew

NICE "WARRIORS" REFERENCE.