The Playoffs are here and the first round is now over, but before we move on to the second round matchups, lets talk about what happened.

The East

Most of the excitement in the East was with The Chicago Bulls battling The Heat. Shaq seemed to slow down in this series and this caused some doubt as to whether the big man is still all that dominating. The short answer is no. But he is still big and his performance in the last game of the series was back up to his usual Shaqness. More interesting than all the technicals and suspensions The Heat suffered during the series, is how amazingly well Antoine Walker played! He was a solid offensive threat and he gave The Heat the energy they needed. Wade was still the main star next to Shaq, but Wade still has a lot to prove. The Bulls on the other hand showed they have a good team, although they are still missing someone in the center position. Chandler was disappointing and Chicago needs to think about getting someone bigger and better at that position. The Noch was incredible, and single handedly kept the Bulls in the game.

I guess I have to mention Lebron, but other than saying that the Cavs have gotten better and Lebron is amazing, there really is not anything new to say about the Cavs winning over the Wizards.

Detroit still looked bored even after the Bucks managed to beat them once. It really has been said before, but I’ll say it again, the game is too easy for Detroit.

The West

Even without Yao and McGrady, the West was more entertaining in their first round. You had the old Spurs battling a hungry Sacramento team, a Laker team poised to beat the number two Suns, and even the Clippers going at Denver. Dallas and Memphis was disappointing, because Dallas won too easily over Memphis. You could almost say the same thing of the Clippers and Denver, if it were not for that controversial foul from Reggie Evans that was just too strange not to talk about.

In the end though, The Lakers took center stage and their battles with Nash and his Suns were amazing. Nash even got upset for a couple of games! Bell called Kobe a pompous player! Kobe actually believed he could make it to the second round without Shaq! Yes, all of it was incredible and when it all came crashing down in game seven, you knew the Suns had run away with it. The media would all blame Kobe, but after all he is the star, and when you are the star they blame you or love you depending on the game’s outcome.

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