Thursday 4/5

> Was anyone really all that surprised with what went down in Cleveland and San Antonio last night? I mean, the Heat using their veteran know-how to get the job done in a big overtime game on the road is pretty much expected of the defending champs. As for the Cavaliers, they are 4-6 since 3/20 and dropped from #2 to #5 in the Eastern Conference standings last night. It’s definitely nervous time on the shores of Lake Erie.

The Spurs controlling the tempo and holding the Suns to 38.6% shooting from the field and 18.2% from three doesn’t shock me in the least. Keep in mind that Phoenix is first overall in the league in both shooting (49.6%) and 3-point shooting (40.3%). This is what I mean by the term “regular season team”. If you want my prediction early on their second round match up, it’s SA in six.

> With 13 days left in the regular season it’s astonishing that only two teams (Memphis & Boston) are officially eliminated from the playoffs. In the NFL they call this parity, but of course the NBA gets ripped for the play being mediocre and boring. Never mind that all these clubs technically still being alive is the desired outcome of the salary cap. People embrace the craziness and the jostling for position that goes on in last two weeks of the NFL season. However, as is always the case with the NBA, nobody pays attention when the exact same things are going on. Double standard says what?

> Games of note tonight…

- Phoenix at New Orleans/Oklahoma City
- Cleveland at Washington on ESPN
- New Jersey at Chicago
- Dallas at Denver on ESPN

I have to say that the league and the TV networks have done an excellent job (via flexible scheduling) of getting the best games out to the national audience this year.