It appears to be the theme (apart from 1st Round knee destructions) in these year’s Playoffs. Early in the series, one team goes into the cusp of winning a game, lets it slip away & has people think “There’s no way they’re winning the series after blowing that game.”

Dallas had it happen twice in Games 1&2. First this…

I was too lazy couldn’t find the sequence that had Dirk being the reigning NBA Finals MVP & coaxing the young Thunder into a foul before that play to put the Mavs up by one that would’ve been game. But as it turns out, Marion plays good defense, not allowing KD to go where he originally wanted to, forces him to make that spin and take a tough jumper/floater over his and 7’0 Ian Mahinmi’s outstretched arms. With about 14 feet of arms challenging the shot, it kindly bounces in. That was big, since it would’ve been an entirely different series had the Mavs stolen Game 1 (Plus the stat that have almost 80% of the teams winning Game 1 going on to win the series). But the Mavs were right there again in Game 2 in a back & forth during the final minutes of the game. Down one with less than 30 seconds left, Dirk had his go to one-legged fade tease the rim before bouncing off. So if losing Game 1 wasn’t the series yet, this one did the job. Instead of going back home up 2-0, they’re in a hole teams hardly ever get out off. And really, they never came as close as they did in the first two games again. And that was that, a 1st Round playoff exit for a defending champ. Dunno when that happened last, but it sure feels like a long ass time.

In case you wanna see how close that Dirk fade was to bouncing in, skip to 2:22..

Memphis had home court and came out looking like a really bad matchup for Lob City. Everything was clicking, and they were stifling everything from the other L.A. team. You know what happened next---a college student bets $25 on the Clippers when they were down by 27 (he would’ve won $15,000 right then if the Clips were to come back), the Clippers hit a three to ‘trim’ it down to 24, his friend bets $50 more, and they go on to win $41,000 after an improbable Clipper comeback to steal Game 1. And while the series would go on the full route, in a series that goes the full seven games, you always look back to the one were you let a 27-point lead slip away.

With the Bulls up 12 with just over a minute left, Tom Thibodeau felt like he wanted to let reigning MVP Derrick Rose get valuable end game feel after coming off an injury riddled season. So what happens next?     

Pop. Season over. The three-team Eastern Conference race just lost a contender.

This would’ve been more painful had I realized earlier that the Spurs were a basketball cyborg sent back through time to make fans realize how the game should be played. So knowing what I know now, the loss of my beloved Lakers in Games 2 & 4 in their series against Oklahoma no longer elicits tears.

You know what happened. After getting ass-rammed by the Thunder with a gigantic black dildo in Game 1, the Lakers came into Game 2 looking old & overmatched. So what do they do, they get World Peace in retro defensive form, they control the pace with the play of their two bigs, and they force the flying Thunder into a dog fight. In a game where you seemingly needed three possessions to overcome a three-point lead, the Lakers had a 7-point lead with just over two minutes left. My insides were smiling. After the Game 1 embarrassment, we were going back home with the series tied and with home court advantage. Wrong.

Heart broken. Dreams shattered. But whatever, we had a veteran team & a series don’t start ‘til a team wins on the round. I was doing everything I can to keep believing. You know like a true fan & not some yearly (or worse, ‘roundly’) bandwagoner would.

So the Lakers come into Game 3 learning a few things that worked on defense & knowing what they had to do to have a chance to beat this superior team. Eventually they take Game 3 & had fans thinking, shit---we should’ve been up 2-1. The sentiment went from “Shit, this Thunder team might be too good” to “Shit, we actually stand a chance and should be up in the series right now.” I suppose the Lakers knew as well that they had to drag this team to a dogfight every single time to win. And that’s exactly what they did in Game 4’ controlling the pace, and eventually building a double digit lead halfway into the fourth.

As I was watching this live, I was like “Fuck yea, we’re about to tie the series & have this Oklahoma team coming back home feeling vulnerable even though the series is only tied but we should’ve been up 3-1.” But for the second time in three games, heart broken, dreams shattered. I found myself shaking my head for a full 15 minutes before actually saying a word. That was our season & “another year wasted in Kobe’s life.”

So yea---that’s the “Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda” theme of this year’s Playoffs. As in—The Lakers could’ve had Chris Paul & Dwight Howard playing alongside Kobe. The Black Mamba would’ve had seven rings by now (on the verge of an eighth if the first coulda was real) if Malone wasn’t injured in 2002, and Gasol wasn’t such a gigantic flapping vagina in 2008. The Lakers should’ve beaten the Thunder in the second round for the right to have their asses handed to them by the Spurs in a surgeon’s plate. But no—Duncan & LeBron will meet again in the Finals after 5 years. The Heat will lose back to back Finals. And Duncan will win his 5th ring after winning his first 13 years ago. Damn you, Mayans!