NBA playoffs 1st round: 5 things we learned

Old guy Celtics win, Lakers face game 7, and farewell Bulls, Hawks and Knicks

• Kobe Bryant gets sick, LA Lakers go to game 7 with Nuggets
• Kevin Garnett and Boston Celtics react to old and dirty taunt
• Chicago Bulls can't do it without Derrick Rose
• Still want to talk about the New York Knicks?
Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant
Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant suffers the indignities of a stomach ailment and a game 7 against the Denver Nuggets in their NBA Western Conference basketball playoffs. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters

Well now no one can say that nothing much has happened yet in the NBA playoffs. The past few nights have featured five games, eliminated three teams, injured two Los Angeles Clippers players and made one game seven necessary. All in all it was a crazy enjoyable 49 hours to be a basketball fan, unless of course one rooted for the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks, not hearing stories about Kobe Bryant's bodily functions or going to bed on time.

Playoff scores and schedule
Playoffs bracket

1. The Philadelphia 76ers take out the hobbled Chicago Bulls

It all came down to crucial free throws. The Bulls Omer Asik missed two free throws in the last seconds of the game while Andre Iguodala made his two, giving the Philadelphia 76ers a 79-78 series-clinching win against the mortally depleted Chicago Bulls team. It seemed like last year's league MVP Derrick Rose's season-ending injury at the end of game one, followed by an "insult to" injury to center Joakim Noah in game three, practically gifted the series win to the 76ers, but the Bulls held their own in game five and were one bounce away from forcing a game seven. It's hard to tell if this series proved how deep the Chicago Bulls were even without two of their best players or if it revealed how flawed a playoff team the Philadelphia 76ers are. Certainly, the upcoming 76ers Semi-Conference matchup against the Boston Celtics will go a long way in revealing how "real" the 76ers are.

Still, it's difficult to think about the 2012 Playoffs without wondering what would happened if Derrick Rose were at full-strength. In order to find out, this blog consulted a noted alternate reality expert: the Watcher from Marvel's "What If….?" comic book series. This is "What if Derrick Rose Were Healthy during the 2012 Playoffs":

"From my base in the moon, I witness many realities, most of them radically different from the world you know, so it is a tad bit of a waste of my cosmic awareness to focus on such a mundane question. Still, if you must know about the alternate world where Derrick Rose did not tear his ACL in the first game of the playoffs: This Alternate World Bulls Team defeated the 76ers rather easily and went on to face the Boston Celtics, their high-energy play exhausting the Celtics' veterans to the point where Marquis Daniels found his way into the starting lineup. Obviously, the Earth-2 Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where they beat the Miami Heat in a seven-game series which ended when LeBron James scored no points in the fourth quarter and then somehow accidentally hit the game winning shot for the Chicago Bulls.

"So the Chicago Bulls would make it to the NBA Finals, where they would take a 3-0 lead on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then, right before game four, United Center security decided not to allow a fan to bring in his pet billy goat and… Listen, I'm fairly certain Chicago fans do not want to hear the rest of this story even if it does take place in a different universe…"

Fair enough, Watcher. Fair enough.

2. The Denver Nuggets force the LA Lakers to a Game Seven

If Kobe Bryant was supposed to be mimicking Michael Jordan's famous "flu game" he forgot that his team was supposed to actually win. Instead the Denver Nuggets blew the doors off of a sick Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers team 113-96 forcing a Game Seven on the Lakers' home court at the Staples Center. If Kobe Bryant was throwing up on the bus ride towards the game, imagine what he was doing after the game when he looked at the final box score. Even when sick, Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, but his teammates contributed very little, particularly Paul Gasol who put up a truly stomach-churning three points and three rebounds.

It was the lowly Denver Nuggets who put up a really impressive offensive showcase on their home floor, lead by Ty Lawson who scored 32 points. It would be easy to suggest that much of this scoring happened during garbage time, but quite honestly most of the game counted as garbage time in a lot of respects. "Close out games are easy", Andrew Bynum said before Game Five when it looked like the Lakers were going to easily shut down the Nuggets before the fifth game of the series, perhaps explaining why he didn't show up to this one. Now, the first round of the NBA Playoffs will have that sweetest of sports things: A Game Seven. They say anything can happen in a Game Seven, I suppose that will be doubly true in a game seven featuring the return of suspended crazy person Metta World Peace of the Lakers.

(Meanwhile, in a potentially unspeakably horrific turn of events for Denver, reserve center Chris Andersen was granted an indefinite leave of absence by the team after police searched his home on suspicion of crimes against children.)

3. The Boston Celtics ensure the Atlanta Hawks' extinction

At age 35 Kevin Garnett, who as the old joke goes has played more NBA minutes than some expansion teams, had one of the greatest games of his first ballot Hall of Fame career, and the Boston Celtics eliminated the Atlanta Hawks 83-80. Before the game, Hawks owner Micahel Gearson Jr. said this of Kevin Garnett: "I know what happens when you play basketball: Old guys foul. Garnett is the dirtiest guy in the league". If he didn't think these unkind words would motivate Garnett, he knew nothing of the notorious grudge-taker. KG exploded for 29 points and 14 rebounds, including what amounted to the game winning jumper.

So, what next for the Atlanta Hawks? They were something of a surprise this season, grabbing the fourth seed despite the fact that Al Horford, one of the best centers in the league, was out for much of the season. Horford's surprise return to the team actually single-handedly won the Hawks an extra postseason game, so it's hard not to think that he will be a difference maker next year. While Joe Johnson will always remain the poster child of a complementary player sporting an undeserved maximum contract, he's a very good player on what could quietly become a dangerous team in the East for the next few years. With the Celtics' future currently a huge question mark and the Orlando Magic potentially without center Dwight Howard, the Hawks have a better showing in the postseason next year, even if their sometimes fair-weather fanbase won't.

4. Quite a ride for the New York Knicks

The Miami Heat, as pretty much anyone expected, finished off the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, 106-94. While the Miami Heat will go on to face the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, the Knicks might still get a good portion of the media attention. The speculation will run rampant about the team's ability to re-sign point guard and former Overnight International Sensation Jeremy Lin, a possible courtship of retired Chicago Bulls/Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson and the regular annual speculations about trades and free agent signings.

We come not to praise the Knicks, or to bury them, but more to shake our heads and look around and go "What exactly just happened here?" There was a reason the NBA began the regular season with the New York Knicks taking on the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, a classic Knicks/Celtics shootout and one of the more exciting games of the regular season. The NBA was trying to send out a message that basketball was relevant again in New York.

The Knicks certainly provided the shortened season plenty of storylines: Would coach Mike D'Antoni last the year if things got rough? (No.) Would Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony learn how to play together? (Answer hazy. Ask again later.) Did the New York Knicks have what it takes to reach the Eastern Conference Finals? (No.) Would the New York Knicks have what it takes to win a playoff series? (No.) Would the New York Knicks have what it takes to win their first playoff game in a decade? (Surprisingly, yes.) What is Stoudemire's position on fire extinguishers? (Not a fan.) Who will solidify the point guard position? (An almost unknown Taiwanese-American who would briefly become the most popular American athlete in the world.)

Yes, to discuss the New York Knicks one must discuss "Linsanity", the most aptly named phenomenon in recent sports history because everything about the Jeremy Lin story was absolutely crazy. Linsanity will be remembered as the story of the 2011-12 NBA season in the same way that The Decision was of the biggest plotline of the 2010-11 season. It was a Disney movie come to life. Literally within the span of weeks, unheralded point guard Jeremy Lin went from couch surfing to leading a New York basketball team on an improbable game winning streak that just kept going long after realists-turned-cynics predicted that it would, it must, end soon.

And then, Carmelo Anthony returned from injury.

Like William H. Macy in "The Cooler", the incredibly dangerous Carmelo Anthony, who can, and has, single-handedly won games more than all but a handful of great NBA players, seemed to change the luck and complexion of the team. The Knicks played a bad stretch of basketball, lost a lot of games, and lost their head Coach Mike D'Antoni in a classic move of either "you can't fire me I quit" or "you can't quit we're firing you". Around this time, this writer's girlfriend even suggested that the word "Knickery" replace a certain swear word (most notably found in the opening lines of Amy Winehouse's "Me and Mr. Jones"). The Knicks promptly went from back-to-back "Sports Illustrated" covers back to nationwide punchlines, fortunes change very quickly in the City That Never Sleeps.

It may be a small thing, but the Knicks' playoff game win should be a sign of good things to come for the Knicks. Next season, the Knicks won't be the surprise juggernaut of peak Linsanity, but they also won't be the decade-long joke that they were in the Isiah Thomas Years. Despite the rebranded Nets and their Russian Bond villain owner, the Knicks will still corner the market on headlines, they just might not be world headlines.

5. Other Things We've Learned

• Meanwhile on Wednesday night, the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 92-80 to force a Game Six. In even worse news for Clippers fans, both Chris Paul (hip flexor, finger) and Blake Griffin (knee) were hurt in a brutal, brutal reminder that the Clippers are, in fact, still the Clippers. Both players are expected to be game-time decisions, but there is no news on whether anyone in Los Angeles was seriously injured when the wheels came off of the bandwagon.

• Congratulations to James Harden for winning the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. Harden will receive it in a special ceremony where the Lakers' Metta World Peace will deliver the award, viciously, to the back of Harden's head.

• With the Atlanta Hawks now officially out of the playoffs, I hope everyone had fun hosting their Annual Tracy McGrady First Round Elimination Party.

• "The second year in Portland, I pretty much became an alcoholic". In this must read, free agent center Greg Oden, formerly of the Portland Trail Blazers, talks about his injury-plagued NBA career, his personal struggles and about dealing with the dreaded "B" word (bust).

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