The Rumors of Your Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated...

So after everyone wrote off the Bulls (that one includes me), Suns and Nets, we are headed for Game 6’s in all three series. Obviously, the Suns were guaranteed to get to a 6th game after the improbable win in Game 4, but no one gave them a chance in Game 5. But not only did the Suns play well, they nearly pulled off the upset. Agree or disagree with the suspensions (I think it’s a dumb rule, but given the precedent the NBA had to enforce it), everyone outside of San Antonio had to have been rooting for the Suns tonight. And don’t forget the Suns played all last year without Stoudamire and went to the Western Conference Finals. The confidence that they had done it before had to have helped. Either way, it was a thrilling game that went down to the wire before San Antonio finally pulled out defensive stop after defensive stop. It was an unbelievable effort by Phoenix and they left everything out on the floor, but one has to wonder if they’ll have anything left for Game 6 on the road.

The 2 East series are different. The Nets and Bulls, both facing 3-1 deficits, pulled off big wins on the road in Game 5 and now have all the momentum going home in Game 6. Vince Carter is going to get a lot of money thrown his way this offseason if he plays the rest of the postseason the way he played Game 5. Okay, so he only had 12 points, but the 10 assists are what caught my eye. If he can be a distributor as well as a scorer, that means he is slashing to the basket and not just shooting jump shots from 25 feet because he’s scared of contact. The man is a living breathing Jekyll and Hyde. I mean this is the same guy who jumped over and dunked on a 7’2 Frenchman in the Olympics (cue the joke about the French surrendering, or something along those lines), yet got pushed out of the post by Eric Snow (Eric Snow!) at the end of Game 4. I can’t wait for Orlando to sign him to a 5 year $75 million contract this summer so he can be a 6’6 version of Steve Kerr as his career winds down.

As for the Bulls, well they’ve made me eat crow so far (yeah, I’m sure that’s the reason they’ve won the last two games). When their jumpers are falling, they can be nearly unbeatable. If they are not, they can barely beat anyone. It’s all hustle, guts, defense and jumpshots for the Bulls, and we saw how far that formula took the Warriors. That being said, if the jumpers fall at the United Center in Game 6, the building will likely explode and the Pistons will have all of the pressure on them going back home for Game 7. Gotta like the Bulls chances in that scenario. Chris Webber and a Game 7. He’s broken my heart so many times before, its time for him to break someone else’s for a change. The Pistons should just declare him injured and sit him down now, otherwise he’ll be suffering from what Charles Barkley so eloquently calls “a tight sphincter” in Game 7.