Underdogs Making Life Miserable
The New York Knicks could not wrap up their firstround series against the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night at Gund Arena. By virtue of a slip-up Saturday in Madison Square Garden, they will be required to make a return trip to Cleveland on Thursday for a fourth game. When you don’t take care of business the way you’re supposed to, then you deserve a cruel punishment like that.
But at least the Knicks can console themselves. Misery has company. The NBA playoff landscape is littered with upper seeds being forced to play a lot longer than they’d like. Five of the eight first-round series must go at least four.
The Orlando Magic knows what the Knicks were feeling. Orlando was victimized by a 54-point turnaround, courtesy of the Boston Celtics, who used some Celtic Pride to stay alive and tie that series 1-1. The Utah Jazz won 60 games, easily the most in that franchise’s history, and yet was unable to win two straight against the Houston Rockets. The Jazz may not return to Utah to play another game at home, either, if the Rockets hold true at the Summit. Likewise, the Seattle SuperSonics allowed the Los Angeles Lakers a split in Tacoma.
Then there’s Chicago. The Bulls are the lower seed in their series with the Charlotte Hornets, but they have the highest-seeded player, Michael Jordan. And yet the semifinal that everyone wants to see, Michael vs. Shaq, may not materialize if the Hornets win two more games.
“More than anything,” Knicks guard Derek Harper said, “this shows how competitive this league is right about now. A lot of people take this for granted, but they shouldn’t do that. That’s dangerous. You have to pay attention to teams like the Cavaliers. You have to like this team. They play with heart and courage. The Celtics are the same way.
“Teams like us aren’t expected to lose to teams like them, but in the playoffs, anything can happen.”
The minefields are out there for the Knicks, for the Magic, for any higher seed. The first round is a bestof-five, which leaves little margin for error. For the favorites, one misstep is bad enough - another could prove fatal. There is a better than average chance that someone will get Denvered, like the Sonics last season. The odds say that won’t happen, but reality presents a solid argument.
Take the Orlando-Boston series, which shifts to Boston Garden for the next two games. That’s not good news for Orlando. The Magic looked worse on the road than a ‘74 Pinto as the regular season came to a close. Orlando lost seven straight away from home and stumbled in some strange places, too.
Jordan is averaging 40 points against the Hornets. However, the Bulls-Hornets series may be determined not by Jordan’s incredible feats, but by the ordinary play by the Bulls’ three-headed center, WenningtonPerdueLongley, who are being outplayed badly by the Hornets’ Alonzo Mourning.
Of all the unheralded teams with big dreams and upset hopes, no one has bigger ones than the Cavs. All things considered, they may be the weakest playoff team, in terms of talent. Sure, they won seven more games than the Celtics during the season, but Boston’s heart and soul, Sherman Douglas, isn’t limping like Mark Price.
“No matter what happens, I have a lot of respect for the Cavs,” Harper said. “Tons of it. With all the injuries and hurdles they’ve had to overcome, you have to marvel at what they’ve been able to do. They’ve proved that if you work hard, good things will come your way.”
And make bad things happen for some favorite.