NBA Playoffs 2013: 5 Biggest Team Disappointments
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As we are now heading to the conference semifinals in the 2013 NBA playoffs, there are eight teams that have been eliminated. Taking a look at those eight teams that are now watching from the comfort of their own homes, none are more disappointing than the Denver Nuggets. Our ranking of the top five most disappointing teams of the past two weeks:
LeBron James could have rested as the Milwaukee Bucks put up no fight to the defending champions. (Photo by Scott Mecum/Wikimedia Commons)
5. Milwaukee Bucks
OK, so they were playing the defending NBA champions in only their second playoff berth since 2005-06. They didn’t, however, put up much of a fight at all, despite having beaten the Heat during the regular season and averaging 96.0 ppg in the four meetings of the two clubs.
The Bucks were completely uninspired in their play and never showed much of a fight to prove themselves against the Heat at all. The Bucks averaged only 85.5 ppg in the four-game sweep. In addition, of the teams that were in the playoffs, they ranked last in 3-point field goal percentage (26.1 percent), rebounds (34.8 rpg) and blocks (2.5 bpg). They also boasted a remedial 63.0 percent free-throw percentage, good for second-worst in among playoff teams.
The Heat may be far too good to have anything less than a championship. The Bucks, however, were about as effective as a real deer in headlights during rut.
4. Boston Celtics
The decline this season of the Boston Celtics began way back in January when the team learned that their All-Star point guard, Rajon Rondo, was out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. The team lost hope and it was clear that not even coach Doc Rivers could find an answer to their lack of fire.
If the Celtics were going to put up any kind of fight at all, it should have been in Game 3. It was their first game back in TD Garden in over two weeks, due to the Boston Marathon bombings cancelling the last regular-season home game. The team needed to win that game to turn the tide and put a fire in the franchise.
Instead, the Celtics were uninspired and nearly booed off their own court as they struggled to a double-digit first half deficit. To be down 3-0, it was seemingly only a matter of time as no team has ever come back from 3-0 to win an NBA playoff series.
The Celtics were able to bang out a couple of wins to force a Game 6. It was too little, too late and the team ran out of options and energy, limping to the locker room towards a long summer and a lot of unanswered questions.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
When you have a team that boasts five NBA All-Stars in your starting line-up, one of the greatest players in NBA history and a tradition of playoff dominance, there is absolutely no excuse to limp into the playoffs. With a rash of injuries and shoddy play, the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in four games. The last time the Lakers were swept in the first round was the 1966-67 season, when they lost to the San Francisco Warriors 3-0.
All-Star Kobe Bryant wasn’t able to play and the Lakers took their first sweep in first round since 1966-67. Photo Credit: Keith Allison (Flickr.com)
With Kobe Bryant out, the Lakers were not able to spread the floor to open up any kind of inside game. In addition to that, the aged Lakers were relying on guys like Steve Nash, Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace, all of whom had struggled all season with ailments. World Peace, in an effort to help his struggling team, only missed 12 games for a knee surgery that was expected to take six months to heal.
Given all the preseason hype and the level of expectation in L.A. for the Lakers to win their 17th NBA championship, there may have never been as disappointing season in team history. There are going to be a lot of questions answered in the coming weeks as the front office needs to figure out a solution. Unfortunately for coach Mike D’Antoni, the biggest decision may be whether to keep him around or for the team to pave the way for Phil Jackson.
2. Los Angeles Clippers
According to NBA.com, the Clippers became the first team in NBA history to start the playoffs with a 2-0 advantage and subsequently lose the series by being swept in four straight games by double-digit margins in each game. Not only did the No. 4 seed Clippers become only the 10th team in NBA history to start a series 2-0 and drop four consecutive games, they became the fifth-seeded Grizzlies’ first-ever four-game playoff winning streak in the process.
The Clippers, who led the league in the regular season with 9.1 steals per game, had a playoff worst of only 5.2 spg. In addition, a decent rebounding team during the regular season with 41.6 rpg, they struggled on the boards, finishing with only 37.2 rpg in the playoffs. The only team to rebound worse than the Clippers during the playoffs was the Bucks, who were swept in four straight games by the Heat.
Granted, this is only a No. 4 seed that lost to a No. 5 seed; however, given the circumstances and the fact that the Clippers had a 3-1 regular season record versus the Grizzlies, it makes it much worse. Add to that the four straight double-digit losses and this is one of the biggest disappointments of the playoffs to this point.
1. Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets coach George Karl has more than 1,100 regular-season wins as an NBA coach, but his only trip to the NBA Finals came way back in 1996 with the Seattle SuperSonics. (Photo by Keith Allison/Flickr.com)
The Denver Nuggets earned a No. 3 seed in the playoffs by virtue of a 57-25 regular-season record and had defeated the Golden State Warriors 3-1 in their regular-season series. The Warriors are making their first playoff appearance since 2006-07 and only their second appearance since 1993-94. This should have been a fairly easy ride for the Nuggets to advance on to play the Spurs.
In the regular season, the Nuggets were ranked first in the league in offensive rebounds (13.3 orpg), second in total rebounds (45.0 rpg) and steals (9.3 spg), third in assists (24.4 apg) and blocked shots (6.5 bpg) and fifth in the league in field-goal percentage (47.8 percent). These types of statistics should place a team in contention for a potential championship given a similar level of performance during the playoffs.
Instead, the Nuggets struggled at both ends of the court, particularly on the defensive end. Giving up too many looks, the Warriors were able to scorch them by hitting on 49.7 percent of their shots from the field. In addition, the Warriors were able to get far too many second-chance shots off the Nuggets defense as the Denver only averaged 26.8 drpg. The only playoff team that had a tougher time getting defensive rebounds was the Bucks, a team that basically fell down and played possum against the Heat.
This was a terrible playoff series for the Nuggets and they were clearly frustrated by the Warriors and Stephen Curry. Denver left their fans out to dry and their 38-3 home record had them dreaming about their first-ever NBA championship.