Top seeds were supposed to roll through the NBA playoffs in 2011. Nothing that happened during the regular season made basketball fans think otherwise. But someone forgot to tell the lower seeds. The Eastern Conference was the domain of Chicago, Miami, Boston and Orlando. Other pretenders need not apply. So, of course, the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks whipped the Magic in six games. Out in the Western Conference, the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies stunned the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round, a 61-win season down the drain.
OK, so sometimes things happen in the first round. A top team may not be ready to play right away. But now the chaos is seeping into the second round. Forget Miami-Boston. That’s two evenly matched teams. But the Bulls — the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference — needed all of one game to lose homecourt advantage against the Hawks. The Bulls find themselves having to fight in a series in which they were heavily favored to win.
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Meanwhile, the Lakers looked vulnerable at times in the first round against New Orleans before surviving in six games. But they blew a 16-point second-half lead at Staples Center on Monday against Dallas. The Mavericks are a No. 3 seed and had a fine regular season, but we’re talking about the two-time defending NBA champs. Los Angeles needs to finish that game at home. Instead, on Wednesday night the Lakers faced what amounted to an unexpected must win in Game 2.
