And now, as we slip behind the moon …
Even with the Heat at 23 in a row in their pursuit of the 1971-72 Lakers’ record of 33, this is the point of the NBA season where the league goes into eclipse, behind the NCAA Tournament.
In case you can’t find the Heat scores, you can put them down for 27 now with the next four against Cleveland, Detroit, Charlotte and Orlando. Or not?
Try “not.”
If it doesn’t seem that way, there’s peril every time the Heat goes out there against dog-ass teams with nothing to lose that start raining threes on them – as the Celtics did, running up that 17-point lead Monday.
As far as the level of play, with the pros now vacuuming the blue-chippers out of college after one year, the NCAA isn’t even as good as the European pro leagues. Nevertheless, even in today’s diminished form, the NCAA Tournament remains the game’s marquee event.
Of the top 10 highest-rated basketball games, nine were NCAA Finals, from the all-timer, Michigan State and Magic Johnson over Indiana State and Larry Bird in 1979 which got a 24.1, to No. 9, the 21.3 in 1975 for UCLA’s win over Kentucky in John Wooden’s farewell.
Only at No. 10 do you come to the lone NBA entry, the 21.2 for Game 7 in 1988 when the Lakers beat the Pistons. If a Game 7 in the Finals matches the excitement of the NCAA Finals, the NCAA has one every spring.
In the 24 years since Lakers-Pistons in 1988, the NBA has had three Game 7s in the Finals (Rockets over Knicks in 1994, Spurs over Pistons in 2005, Lakers over Celtics in 2010).
Unfortunately for anyone who loves the game, the NCAA format, by far the most entertaining, doesn’t work with the NBA, which has, by far, the game’s greatest players.
The NCAA has no payroll – at least officially – and only operating expenses to recoup.
The NBA is an association of owners, most of whom were born well off, and players, most of whom were not, who have arrived at a mutual agreement to garner the most revenue, first and foremost.
Thus, an 82-game season (groan), and best-of-seven playoff series, drawing it out as far as they can (ka-ching!), instead of zipping through the formality of the first round with a best-of-five, as they did before 2003, or best-of-three, as they did in the 1980s.
Not that the NCAA Tournament is all it was when you could watch Grant Hill develop, playing in three title games, as opposed to seeing the brightest prospects leave in their teens.
These days, the championship games are in the low teens, like the 12.1 for last spring’s Kentucky-Kansas a glamour matchup. That barely beat the 2012 Finals five-game average of 11.6 for Miami’s humdrum 4-1 defeat of Oklahoma City.
If “March Madness” the brand remains hot, it’s as much because of the proliferation of office pools. Unfortunately, this has the effect of letting the air out of the balloon the first weekend, after which 90 percent of the pools are dead.
In any case, it would take the Heat until April 9 to beat the Lakers’ record. That’s the day after the NCAA Finals.
So, run along. We NBA people will be here when it’s over.
On to the rankings.
I’m in agreement that there is always the possibility of a loss, and it seems as if the Miami Heat, this HERALDED collection of geniuses and prodigies alike, play DOWN to the other team’s level, not up. We saw it against the Celtics (to a lesser degree), the Cavs (Almost a big embarrassment for Bron), etc., and while they may very well continue the streak into the playoffs, I think the end is near; they look to be tiring a bit. I’m here in Denver and also watching my Nugget’s impressive streak, but it looks like the Nuggets are IMPROVING their game in the process, not tiring out as the Heat seems to be. I watch most of the game son my iPad, usually after my shift at DISH ends, and it’s been really cool having a new app for my iPad that lets me take my TV and DVR with me on the go. DISH Anywhere gives me full access to my home TV setup, and since it’s like watching TV from home, I can also channel-surf between games to check the status of the respective streaks live.