The NBA playoffs

The wild west has never been wilder, at least in the pro hoops world. Consider the early playoff match-ups and what has happened so far.

The Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers have been slugging it out, with most of their games going into overtime, and the visiting team winning more games than the hosts. Portland leads 3-2 and can close it out at home in a couple days -- but who knows?

Same with the Okla City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies. Road wins and overtimes galore. Who would have thought the Grizz, also leading 3-2, would be in a position to eliminate Kevin Durant and company when they go back to Elvisland for Game 6?  OKC were supposed to be title contenders -- not get knocked out in the first round. But it ain't over yet.

San Antonio and Dallas are in a good old-fashioned Texas shoot-out, with the Spurs ahead (sound familiar?) 3-2 and the series heading back to Big D. Both teams have beat the other on the road in prior games. Anything can happen, though it would be a bit surprising if the Mavs can defeat the Spurs twice in a row, especially a potential game seven in Alamoland. But ya never know. Stranger things have already happened, which brings me to....

The LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors match-up. Certainly, given the recent Donald Sterling fiasco, the Clips have faced some major distractions. Before the game started, they shed their warm-up jackets en masse at mid-court in a game at Golden State, and wore their teams shirts inside out in protest.

Quick questions: Would they have done the same thing with their LA team gear if they were playing at home in front of their own fans? And what would the crowd reaction have been?

Though not widely reported, Golden State guard Stephen Curry was quoted as saying if Commissioner Adam Silver didn't drop the hammer on Clipper owner Donald Sterling in a big way -- he and his teammates weren't going to play the next game.

Now THAT would have been interesting. Were the players of Golden State REALLY prepared to forfeit an NBA playoff game if they weren't satisfied with what the Commish had to say in his rulings on Sterling? Can you imagine the can of worms that would have opened up?

The Sterling affair aside, the Western Conference of the NBA playoffs appears to be a collective knock-down, drag-out endurance match. These guys are beating each other up, and who will eventually survive to go on to the Finals is a good question indeed.

In the meantime, out in the East, the Miami Heat easily swept Charlotte in the opening round. The Washington Wizards dispatched the Chicago Bulls, who were without the services of former MVP Derrick Rose and big man Luol Deng. No big surprise there either. The Toronto Raptors are slugging it out with the Brooklyn Nets. The Atlanta Hawks, also leading 3-2 over the Indiana Pacers, go home for Game 6 and can send Larry Bird's boys back to the banks of the Wabash. And they just might. After being so dominant earlier in the season and earning a #1 seed, the Pacers seem to have totally collapsed in the last few weeks.

Does anybody really think Toronto or Brooklyn will pose much of a challenge to the Heat in the next round? The Atlanta/Indy winner going up against Washington? Does it even matter?

Lebron and company are healthy, and I dare anyone to tell me which other team in the East is capable of beating them in a 7 game playoff series. Barring a major injury or two, the Heat appear to be on cruise control back to the Finals, going for a three-peat as champions.

And who will await them there after surviving the brutal gauntlet of the West? Unknown, but while a case can be made they are battle-hardened, and equal case could be made that they've been beat up along the way during the playoffs as well.

Sure, these guys are in world-class physical shape and theoretically recover quickly. But they're also human, and one brutal playoff game after another, let alone a couple more series' likely to be even tougher to get to the Finals, has to take it's toll eventually.

Again, barring something totally unforeseen -- definitely advantage Miami.