Bernucca: Sunday Aside, These Playoffs Have Been Historically Boring

Here’s what’s been good about the 2015 NBA playoffs:

1. LeBron James.

2. Stephen Curry.

3. Paul Pierce in the clutch.

4. Clippers-Spurs, especially Game 7.

Here’s what’s been bad about the 2015 NBA playoffs: Everything else.

I get up at 6 a.m. ET every weekday to take my son to school, so I have to pick my spots on staying up for West Coast games. I also have coached AAU basketball every weekend since early April, often with out-of-state travel that further cuts into my ability to watch. And I really don’t feel like I’ve missed much.

The postseason started with several teams dealing with the impact of injuries. Then we had the novelty of the New Orleans Pelicans actually in the playoffs – which lasted all of eight days, followed by them firing their coach. Then we had the Cleveland Cavaliers toying with the Boston Celtics the same way a cat plays with a ball of yarn.

Along the way, we had more injuries.

We had the embarrassment of the Toronto Raptors, who for the second straight year saw their GM fined for swearing at a public playoff party, then lost in the first round to a lower-seeded team. Then we had Rajon Rondo undermining the Dallas Mavericks and his own future earning power. Then we had the Milwaukee Bucks losing an elimination game on their home floor by a scant 54 points.

Then we had more injuries.

We had Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers, who opened a 3-1 lead in the conference semifinals before realizing that they were Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers and blowing it. That series also featured basketball games that lasted longer than baseball games thanks to intentional fouling, which is the NBA equivalent of throwing over to first base to keep the runner close and had the most populous time zone in the country going to bed early.

We had the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls, all lower seeds with 2-1 series leads and Game 4 on their home floor before turning into The Little Engine That Couldn’t, failing to win again and all exiting with losses at home.

And then we had more injuries.

But this postseason wouldn’t be complete without a historic event, and we may have one: If Golden State beats Houston tonight and Cleveland defeats Atlanta on Tuesday, it will be the first time that both conference finals have ended in four-game sweeps.

That’s what TNT might call “Zero Ball.”

The round preceding the NBA Finals – conference finals since 1971, division finals prior to that – has never had sweeps on both sides since those series went to best-of-seven in 1958.

The only time it has happened was in 1957, when every round before the Finals was a sweep. But back then, things were a little different. That year, the early “rounds” were two one-game tiebreakers in the Western Division. The division semifinals were best-of-three sets and the division finals were best-of-five affairs. And no, I didn’t cover those series.

In all, this postseason could very well end up with five sweeps – six if you believe Matthew Dellavedova’s next accidental target is one of Stephen Curry’s knees or ankles sometime in the first quarter of Game 1. Couple that with just two Game 7s and you have one of the least compelling playoffs in some time, even within the current context of Short Attention Span Theater.

Using the measure of sweeps vs. seven-game series, this is the least competitive postseason since the last time James took the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007. In that year, there were four sweeps, including San Antonio’s broom job on Cleveland in the Finals. And the only Game 7 was Utah’s less-than-memorable road win over Houston and first-round flop artist Tracy McGrady.

Compare that to last year, when there was just one sweep – Miami over Charlotte in the first round – and five series that went the limit (albeit all in the first round). Or 2013, when there were three sweeps counterbalanced by three Game 7s, including one in a spectacular Finals.

Look, there have been boring playoffs in the past, especially if you are beyond your college years. Stat geeks will point to the league-wide numbers for pace and true shooting percentage and tell you that the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season made your eyes hurt more than any other in NBA history. That was backed up by a postseason with six sweeps and no Game 7s. League executives were silently grateful for that, since it meant the draft didn’t take place the day after the Finals ended. Also, the series ended in New York, meaning travel time home for the league staff from the last game of the season was measured in minutes rather than hours.

But the 1996 postseason, usually remembered for the Chicago Bulls winning a record 72 games and the title in Michael Jordan’s return, had five sweeps and one Game 7. The 1991 postseason, marked by Jordan facing Magic Johnson in the Finals, had four sweeps and no Game 7s. And the 1989 postseason, when Detroit’s “Bad Boys” finally broke through, had nine sweeps – including the Finals – and no Game 7s.

Yowsah.

But those years are not unlike comparing apples to oranges because they came before the change to the current format in 2003, when the first round was expanded from best-of-five to best-of-seven. By adding eight more best-of-seven series, the chance for sweeps was reduced while the possibility of a Game 7 was increased.

The bottom line is this: Since the format change in 2003, only the 2007 postseason has been comparatively boring to this one when you consider sweeps and Game 7s.

And if you prefer a closer, anecdotal look, consider this. Start with Game 7 of Clippers-Spurs – which was undeniably one of the best playoff games ever – and end with the stunning comeback by the Rockets against the Clippers in Game 6. That’s a stretch that includes buzzer-beaters on consecutive days by Derrick Rose, Pierce and James.

That stretch of must-see TV lasted all of 13 days, or just five days longer than the projected idle time between the conference finals and the NBA Finals, scheduled to start June 4.

The folks at Olympic Tower are so concerned about the length of down time following the most uncompetitive conference finals in NBA history impacting TV ratings that they are contemplating starting the Finals two days earlier, which probably won’t happen.

And right now, the Finals look like a fait accompli. Because in addition to being the best team and the home team, the Warriors also are undoubtedly the healthiest team. With the reckless Dellavedova lurking on the other side, Curry must feel like the NBA’s Nancy Kerrigan.

Maybe the time off will help James and sidekick Kyrie Irving get closer to 100 percent, which they clearly are not. Maybe the rest will leave some rust on Golden State. Maybe James – playing in his fifth straight Finals – simply will not be denied.

And maybe we will have a compelling series. Given this historically drab postseason, NBA fans certainly could use one.

Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Mondays. Follow him on Twitter.