The favorites to come out of the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, took care of business Saturday night. The Thunder closed out the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on the road and earned themselves much needed rest before round two. The Spurs look to do the same in Utah on Monday.
It was a very different story today in the East. The perennial favorites to represent the conference dropped the ball. Spurred on by Carmelo Anthony's 41 points and Stoudemire's inspired double-double. The Heat allowed a deflated, beat-up Knicks squad to force a game five and take the series back to Miami.
The Heat have been targets ever since they lost to Dallas in the NBA Finals last year. Every TV and radio show takes dead aim at them whenever they encounter the slightest mishap. This latest loss to the Knicks will fuel the fire for the media, even though Miami maintains a 3-1 series lead and will most likely close the series out Tuesday night. This defeat does indeed raise some eyebrows however. Now we wonder why the Heat can't close. A team with two of the biggest closers in the game, they couldn't get it done. A team that almost has to win a championship this year could not stomp out a tired Knicks club, who erased a thirteen game post season losing streak with the win.
The bottom line is that the Heat should have closed out the Knicks this afternoon. Now instead of resting and preparing for the second round. The Heat will have to board a plane and prepare for a physical game five. Expect the Knicks to come out swinging on Wednesday night. They know they are under their opponents skin and a long grueling game could spell trouble for the Heat.
As this weekend comes to a close the Heat don't look so bullet proof anymore in the Eastern playoffs. On a weekend where Rajon Rondo dropped the quietest triple-double in playoff history, the Celtics might start believing they have a chance.
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