Moving on...
No, seriously, all you missed were some LTS jokes, appreciations for the old timers and their longevity around here, and for the new GMs staying as active as they have. I've quietly followed the playoffs while on vacation, and I definitely have some thoughts I'd like to share.
The first surprise was no first round sweeps! I figured the Mavs had the best chance to do it, but the Blazers' Charley Quick proved to be too quick for Kevon Looney for the whole series, while Reese and Dom just couldn't get it going in Gm 3, and the Blazers stole one for the gentleman's sweep. I'll be interested to see what the Blazers do next year with Quick and Blaze expiring. Are they going to re-sign in Portland for maxes, or will they decide to 'play for [a] better team'? That aside, the Mavs did exactly what they set out to do and are off to a good start against the Spurs in the semis. Nicely done, Dallas.
Moving on to the next least competitive series...
Indiana and the unmanned Bucks battled it out, and the #7 Celtics took out the #2 Celtics in the first last place playoff win I can remember since joining PBSL.
Starting with the latter, the Glen Sabo division was, compared to the rest of the league, a disaster. The #2 Cavs benefitted unfairly in the standings by having a bad division, where the #1 and #2 were on a crash course no matter what for the 2 and 7 seed series because all the other teams in Alpha are so much better. If it was fair, The Cavs would have been the #6 seed and probably lost to the unmanned Bucks (no disrespect), and the Celtics would have lost handily to the much better Nuggets in 4 (maybe 5 (no disrespect)). The Cavs and Celtics delivered a spirited series nonetheless with the much more veteran GM savvy of AngryBanana taking out the playoff-inexperienced Cavs in what wasn't one of their best seasons anyway.
(EDIT: I guess the Cavs did make it out of the 1st round in 2047. My mistake.)
(ANOTHER EDIT: I guess the Nuggs and Celtics meet after all, and it's a tight battle.)
Back to Indiana and Milwaukee, Herbert Jones proved to still be too dominant a force in the PBSL to be denied by the still-best center of PBSL in Kelel Ware, at least in the first 2 games in Milwaukee. Once Wembanyama returned from injury in Game 3, the series tightened up. Wemby caught some flack in league chatter earlier this season for being old and washed, but the old dog still had enough tricks to make a nearly irredeemable 0-2 deficit competitive heading back to Indiana. This series of vets was a very entertaining one, and an active Pacers GM had just enough muster to make the proper adjustments and take the Bucks out. Unfortunately, their prize for winning is playing the Bulls - a prize for no one.
We had a couple of excellent Game 7's, too.
The Magic and Nuggets went to war. When Nick made a move at the trade deadline to pick up Johnny Davis, I thought for sure they'd be tough enough to exit the 1st round. After seeing the Magic go up 3-1 in a historically lopsided Gm 4 beating, though, Denver decided it was finally time to get revenge on Davis for abandoning Panda's Nuggies many seasons ago. Jedihero sent his crew out with a chip on their shoulders for the next two games, and despite a tighter battle in Gm 7, momentum proved to be too much for vet GM NickMalone's Magic. After many seasons of landmark trading, I think this is the best roster Nick has put together, so I'm sure it was a tough defeat. You never know, though. Maybe things would have been different if Benfield's nose wasn't broken...
Meanwhile, the Suns, down-horrendous, finally caught a break in their streak of bad luck and beat the Rockets in 7. Neither team won by more than 10 points in any game, and the Suns suffered a stinging 3pt defeat at home in game 6. Season on the line, Black Superman sent Phil to the bench, which proved to be the right call, clearing the way for Finch and Lewis to hold down the front court and a path for Delmer Bricker to put up a career-defining 36 points in Game 7, sending the Suns to the semis.
The Rockets came in with Sion James's moxie and championship attitude, but even a battered and bruised Suns stood tall to their season's biggest challenge yet, stealing the series from the higher-seeded Rockets. I'm not sure if it was a blessing or a curse for the Suns' strife-filled season to continue, but they moved on to battle the Pistons, everyone's favorite to win it all.
Good luck, Nate.
In the course of writing this, I've been blessed to recap a few semi-finals series, after two sims. NO team has swept their competition, and the aforementioned Suns put up an admirable performance on their homecourt, forcing the series back to Detroit and damn near tied the series up. In post-game notes, Black Superman would be quoted that the results of both games were "bullshit," but most others around the league were impressed by the team that seemed destined to fail, carrying a dead Phil Smith on their backs.
Meanwhile, Detroit has been sent spinning into an identity crisis, a la most real-life Boston Celtics playoff appearances over the last 5 or 6 years. The Pistons, like the real Celtics, SHOULD win it all, and yet they gave up a stunning 22 point defeat to the team no one believed could win. Quailman has been reported to remain steadfast in believing in his guys, and insists that the next game will be Phoenix's last for the year. We will all stay tuned...
In another Game 4 stunner, the Pacers and Bulls went to TRIPLE OT with a final score of 164-154. Shoutout to 21 yr old, 3yr vet Dan Spooner for putting up one of his best ever performances, and to Mikal Bridges for holding Morelock to 15 points over 51 minutes of play. Herb Jones and Nicholas Zike did everything they could to lead their offense to victory, but a stellar performance from Mac McClung denied them. Mac's triple double, including 23 assists, opened up the floor for Brandon Ingram to be the game's top scorer, with 38 points, and he still collected 8 assists of his own. Garbageman told reporters he was proud of his team, but that they would have to keep the fouls down just a bit more to close the Pacers out in Game 5.
The Spurs / Mavs series, as well as the Celtics / Nuggets series, are absolute nail-biters. We may have to revisit them in a part 2.
But anyway, I'm back, writing, and it's great to be back. I will be in a few of your inboxes for offseason deals as soon as I do some maths (and find or replace my work ID (whoops)). Cheers everyone