National Basketball Association

Good teams bowing out too easily

Published May. 24, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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The Celtics have been textbook in their rotations on defense and one pass ahead of them on offense. The Magic have been dreadful. Some of this has been caused by coaching, but, with so many teams running similar schemes, the greatest difference in teams is talent and heart. Howard is a great athlete with limited offensive skill and some of his teammates are really good players. But Boston has three future Hall of Famers now enjoying ample rest between games, and a red-hot young point guard in Rajon Rondo.

As the blame is skillfully passed around by Orlando's critics, we find the addition of Vince Carter and departure of Hedo Turkoglu added to the criticism of Howard and Lewis. But the healthy existence of Nelson, who was eating up lesser teams as a scorer, may deserve some credit for the Magic's 0-3 hole. Nelson missed most of the 2009 postseason while pass-first veteran Rafer Alston was running a Magic show that reached the Finals.

With defenders staying at home on post-ups to Howard, Nelson exists as Van Gundy's next option for creating shots. With Rondo too nasty to be taken straight up off the bounce, Van Gundy has attempted to get Nelson into the lane using ball screens.

It's too bad that Nelson seemingly refuses to aggressively turn the corner and attack the defense.

And when Orlando's on defense, no amount of rotational strategy can overcome a lack of effort.
We now move to Cleveland, where James eventually looked mortal, while the additions of Mo Williams last year and Antawn Jamison this year obviously were not enough to ride shotgun into the Finals. Ultimately, Boston's Doc Rivers smoked Cavaliers coach Mike Brown in the adjustment arena, with Brown's inability to get the ball to LBJ off the move proving deadly. Boston's pack-line defense limited LeBron off the dribble, and the Cavs' shooters didn't come through when he gave up the ball.

Our next stop is Atlanta, where the Hawks' disinterest in defending at a playoff level could have been predicted. Atlanta had nobody capable of staying in front of Nelson, and the myth that Orlando was just too stinking big seems lame. Sure, Howard is taller than Atlanta post man Al Horford and can leap to the moon, but Al's only a bit more than an inch shorter and is a pretty tough customer.

Orlando's Lewis, at the four spot, certainly had no rim-level edge on Josh Smith, but sometimes observers forget that defense is a lot more than blocking shots.

Over in Miami, the Heat went down to Boston in five, but only because a superstar turn by Dwyane Wade saved Game 4. Charlotte was swept by Orlando despite Howard committing 22 fouls and spending about half of the series on the bench. Bobcats Coach Larry Brown couldn't find the right way to prevent Nelson from looking like the second coming of Isiah Thomas.

The first big flop in the Western Conference was provided by the second-seeded Mavericks, who reminded sharpies that they actually are older than the Spurs. The Spurs had too much quickness on the perimeter, Tim Duncan on the inside and the soon-to-follow blessing many of experts expecting them to challenge the Los Angeles Lakers.

Before having an opportunity to line up against the Lakers, the Spurs were swept by the historically doomed Phoenix Suns, who were playing without starting center Robin Lopez.

On the other side of the Western bracket, the 53-win Nuggets, working without Coach George Karl, eased on down the road by losing to the Jazz. With point guard Deron Williams inspiring many league watchers to declare him the league's best at that position, the Jazz were swept by the Lakers. At least they could use an injury to Mehmet Okur (Achilles, Game 1 at Denver) as something of an alibi.

The first two games of the Western finals were exercises in tardy defensive rotations by the Suns, who rode a better-late-than-never uprising by Amar'e Stoudemire to beat L.A. in Game 3. Having little chance of guarding the Lakers man to man, the Suns went to a zone in the second quarter and the defending champs didn't attack it. They went inside-out and shredded the zone for 37 points in the third quarter, then went back to minimal player and ball movement in the decisive fourth quarter.

Even though the effectiveness of their zone was created by the Lakers' mental and tactical lapses, at least the Suns look like they're refusing to go ... not just refusing to go quietly.

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