To fans dismay, Bob Costas no longer hands it over courtside to Marv Albert and Mike Fratello on the NBA on NBC. No longer is Michael Jordan promoting your favorite fast food restaurant, your favorite bubblegum and the underwear you're wearing, all while scoring 40 points with his tongue hanging out. That's just not what the NBA is like anymore.
In fact, today's stars such as MVP candidates Chris Paul and LeBron James weren't even freshman in high school when Jordan last appeared in the NBA Playoffs.
The names, the game, and the aura that once was will undoubtedly be forever changed. Change, however, is not always a bad thing.
The NBA playoffs have been in full swing since late April. Four teams remain on the hardwood and not one of them is willing to go away.
As of early Tuesday, the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons are square in their fight for the Eastern Conference title at two games apiece. In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers and NBA MVP Kobe Bryant have a 2-1 series lead on the San Antonio Spurs.
In the East, the two defensive powerhouses in Boston and Detroit have been trading wins ever since the beginning of the series. The Celtics took the series opener at home, while the Pistons answered in Game 2 with a 103-97 win.
When the series went to Detroit, the Celtics picked up their first postseason win on the road when star forward Kevin Garnett carried his team to a convincing 94-80 victory.
Right when the Celtics seemed to find the momentum with their first win on the road, the Pistons took it right back on Monday night when they dismantled the Celtics' offense, cruising to a 19 point win.
Predictions should be made carefully for the rest of the series, as the first four games have shown nothing but inconsistency from the most consistent players on either team.
Boston's veteran leader Ray Allen hasn't been able to find the basket on a regular basis for nearly the entire postseason. A career 45 percent field goal shooter, Allen made just 7 of 24 baskets attempted in the two-game stand in Detroit, according to ESPN.com.
Shockingly, Paul Pierce and Garnett, the other two factors in Boston's "Big Three" have had troubles as well. According to NBA.com, the trio "combined to miss their first seven shots and finished 11-for-38 from the field" in game four.
While players on both teams have struggled to find their feet with the tough defense being played night in and night out, the focus and desire that critics saw months ago in these teams still remains.
After game four, Allen was obviously frustrated with his team's performance.
According to ESPN.com, Allen said, "we pride ourselves on making our teammates better and allowing them to make us better." Unfortunately, in game four the Celtics couldn't better themselves in time to stay in the game.
Pistons coach Flip Saunders stayed focused on keeping the momentum his team gained with their game four win.
According to ESPN.com, Saunders explained, "what we've got to do now is go out and win two games in a row. Usually whoever wins two in a row takes control of a series, and neither us nor Boston has been able to win two."
The Pistons will get that chance to win two in a row on Wednesday night, where the Celtics will participate in a situation they've been in before. This will be the third time since the start of the playoffs that Boston is faced with a game five at home with the series tied at 2-2.
In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers seemed to have it all figured out until their offense misfired on Sunday night, letting the Spurs back into the series and giving them a chance of tying it at home on Tuesday night.
The series began with a close battle in which Kobe Bryant finished off in the final minute for an 89-85 Los Angeles win. Game two wasn't even close, as the Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the series with a thirty-point victory that made some question the Spurs' chances to win even one game in the series.
Luckily, San Antonio was the destination for game three and the Spurs handled the pressure of going down 3-0 as the professionals they are. Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan controlled the game, as the Spurs buckled down on the defensive side, frustrating Lakers all night.
Ginobli loosened up with a 30-point performance and Duncan controlled the inside with 22 points and 21 rebounds.
The Lakers, on the other hand, looked tight and couldn't put it together for the majority of the night.
While Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol finished with 15 and Lamar Odom finished 2-for-11 with just seven points.
The run to the Finals won't get any easier as every game grows in importance, from here until a winner is decided. Of the four teams remaining, three represent the best defensive squads in the NBA. The other team, Los Angeles, has arguably the most prolific scorer in NBA history wearing their number 24.
While you won't see Michael Jordan flying through the air in this years Finals or little John Stockton dishing the ball to Karl Malone, you will see a new brand of NBA Basketball. With the re-emergence of solid defense and high-flyers like Kobe Bryant still in the fight, this brand may be just what we've been looking for.
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