2014 NBA Playoffs: 10 Burning Questions (Part 1)
6. Which playoff team was the most disappointing?
If we were basing this question on salary alone, there’s no question the most disappointing playoff team was the Brooklyn Nets. But if you watched Brookyn trudge through the regular season even a little bit, a semifinal elimination against the Heat seemed like an appropriate ending for them. So let’s go through the other 15 playoff teams to figure this out.
Obviously, it can’t be the Heat or Spurs; Miami is going to its fourth straight Eastern Conference Finals and the Spurs are going to their ninth Western Conference Finals in the last 16 years. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, for all their struggles thus far, have advanced as well. The Los Angeles Clippers and Chris Paul will be hammered for falling short, but they just got beat by a better team. The Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards both exceeded expectations by winning a single playoff series. The Nets disappointed only the most unrealistic of expectations, as did the banged up Warriors. The Charlotte Bobcats, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks were just happy to be there and other than the Bobcats, they all pushed their first round series against superior opponents to the full seven games.
That leaves us with the Toronto Raptors, the Houston Rockets and the Chicago Bulls. The Raptors shocked everyone by playing good basketball after the Rudy Gay trade and snatching the third spot in the East with 48 wins, but fell to the Nets in the first round in seven games despite having home-court advantage. The Rockets won 54 games and had arguably the best shooting guard AND center in the league between James Harden and Dwight Howard, but lost in six games to the Blazers despite having home-court advantage. And wouldn’t you know it, the Chicago Bulls also lost…despite having home-court advantage! After putting together such an inspiring season behind Tom Thibodeau’s defensive genius and Joakim Noah‘s grit, they fell apart in the postseason and lost in five.
So who’s the most disappointing? Absolutely and unequivocally, the Houston Rockets. Though they faced the toughest competition of the three, they were also the closest to being labeled as title contenders. But for all the premature contender talks, Houston didn’t even advance to the second round against a team with a bench so anemic it made Starvin’ Marvin look like Ruben Studdard. Harden struggled for most of the series and despite a gargantuan effort from Howard, no one could stop LaMarcus Aldridge or Damian Lillard. Throw in the fact that Lillard buried them with a buzzer beater to seal the series and that’s one depressing postseason for Houston.
That’s all for Part 1, but look for Part 2 with five more burning questions tomorrow!