This has been an incredibly exciting first round of the NBA Playoffs. With the exception of the Thunder Suns series, and the Spurs Trail Blazers series, every series has been very tightly contested.
Six of the eight first round series are heading to a sixth game. The only series where I would be shocked if the underdog won would be the 76ers over the Celtics. The Celtics are the vastly superior team. If they lose the next two games to the inferior 76ers, every player on their roster should be executed!
I could write an entire article about the deficiencies of Joel Embiid as a basketball player. His shortcomings at this point of his career have been long documented. The 76ers play so much better without him. There is a much better pace to their game. Also, his defense is beyond atrocious. He might as well be a Matador out there. If anyone gets near him in the paint, he allows them to blow by him for an easy bucket.
At this point in his career, he should be nothing more than a backup center who plays fifteen to twenty minutes a game. That might sound harsh, but the dude just doesn’t have the stamina to do much more than that.
Another standout series has been the injury depleted Lakers taking three games to two lead, against the Kevin Durantless Rockets. This series has been phenomenal. I am firmly a Jordan over Lebron guy, but there is no denying how amazing forty-one-year-old Lebron has been in this series.
The Lakers are still missing their top two leading scorers from the regular season. Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves. Despite this setback, Lebron has basically said “hold my beer” and is carrying the Lakers to the second round. He has even gone so far as to create a teammate for him to help defeat the Rockets. His ally oop to Bronny will forever be remembered as one of the coolest moments in NBA history.
Onto the series that is the talk of the basketball town, Pistons Magic. There is a long-storied history of NBA teams who overachieve in the regular season. Those teams always have the formula of being great defensively, always playing with maximum effort, but they struggle a little offensively. The Pistons are sadly looking like they are matching this formula to a T.
There is no question that Cade Cunningham is the best player in this series, unfortunately for the Pistons, The Magic might have the three next best players in the series.
Jalen Duren has struggled mightedly. He had a fantastic regular season. It really makes you wonder if there is any room for a traiditional center in the modern NBA. The fact that Duren cannot shoot three pointers has been extremely debilitating.
Another factor against the Pistons is the absence of Malik Beasley. Beasley was suspended for the season due to an illegal gambling probe. Beasley was not only by far the best three point shooter on the Pistons last year, but one of the best shooters in the entire league. It appears as though the Pistons could weather his absence in the regular season, but not having him out there to space the floor on offense could lead to an early exit for them in the post season.
My preseason proclamation of eating chicken nuggets naked in thunderstorm if neither the Thunder or Nuggets win is looking pretty solid.
The Thunder look very poised to bail me out. Ironically, the greatest threat to my dignity is my favorite player, Victor Wembanyama. I would gladly eat soggy nuggets for Mr. Wemby to win his first title. Love you Wemby!
A bientot!
Bennie's Blasts 
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