Top seeds fly above the fray while trenches taking their toll

It appears the Cavs and Lakers are still on a collision course as the Heavyweights have taken few punches in the first round. Cleveland polished the aging Pistons in 4 games that were less intense than the Cavalier practices, solidifying the Pistons place as the ‘Atlanta Braves of the NBA’ with 1 title to show for 6 Easter Finals appearances. Meanwhile the Lakers stumbled in game 3 at Utah as Kobe had his worst shooting game in almost a decade but turned in the exact reciprocal performance in game 4 en route to droppin’ 38 on the Jazz in an easy Laker win and attempt to close them out in game 5 in LA. Series of the playoffs continues to be the C’s and Bulls, where two of the four games have gone into overtime and the “Ticketless” Celtics let the commanding series lead get away from them in game 4 as they could not seem to foul the Bulls before Gordon got off a 3 with :09 to play, and the C’s eventually lost in double OT. The scene shifts back to Boston in a series that has changed momentum three times in four games. If the Celtics can’t stave off the baby Bulls, given that their chances of getting back to the Finals next year diminish with another year of age tacked on the nucleus, they will go down as classic ‘one hit wonders’. Speaking of an aging nucleus, the recent strength of the dollar will not be a welcome site as all of the Spurs return to their respective countries later this week. When the Mavericks finish sending them home there will much discussion on dismantling the old Fiat. We’re still waiting to gauge in the Nuggets worthy of their number two seed as they move on to game four against Nawlins’. A gritty comeback that was more the Hornets going to sleep than Denver taking it from them, but all of the drama of those curtail game 4’s will be on display Tuesday. Thus far, the biggest disappointment has been the Magic who was another last second shot away from an eventual vacation but held on for a critical road win and even the series with Philly at 2. The absence of Nelson is really being felt and teams with good guards will five the Magic huge problems as they attempt to move forward but they have all they can handle right now in the tightest of 3-6 matchups. Due to the potency of the Cavs the forgotten series of the Hawks/Heat has be portrayed as the next doormat for the NBA’s best record, but word to the wise, if Cleveland goes too much into vacation mode as they wait for their next opponent they may get caught with their gloves down in game one, round one.