Kragthorpe: Even minus Jazz, NBA playoffs have been fun

Kragthorpe: Even minus Jazz, NBA playoffs have been fun

The 2011 NBA playoffs simply cannot last long enough for me.

From start to finish, the league is staging the most entertaining, compelling postseason in history. The big upsets, epic performances, great comebacks (or collapses) and dramatic finishes have been so much fun to follow from a distance that I would suggest the Jazz strongly consider participating in the playoffs next season.

If there is a next season.

The only trouble with these playoffs is they have to end Sunday or Tuesday, and then who knows when the NBA will conduct business again? A lockout is looming, just when the game is better than ever.

Anyone around here who tuned out the NBA when EnergySolutions Arena went dark in mid-April is missing some awfully good stuff. The NBA Finals between Miami and Dallas, tied 2-2 entering Thursday’s game, could be not be any more fascinating.

Even beyond having three consecutive games decided only with the ball in the air at the buzzer, the stories got better Tuesday. While the Heat’s LeBron James was shrinking from view in an eight-point showing, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki was evoking memories of Michael Jordan against the Jazz in 1997 by fighting off illness and coming through in the end.

So what happens now? Can the Mavs summon another big effort in Game 5 and then win once in Miami? Or will the Heat regroup and ride their home-court advantage to the title? I know this: If LeBron and the Heat manage to overcome Dallas and win the championship, they will have earned it, and that’s all we can ask.

A feature of NBA.com enables fans to create their own playoff highlight reel, but where to begin? If the standard complaint about the NBA postseason is that it drags on and on, the 2011 playoffs have provided reasons to watch all the way along.

Memphis upset No. 1 seed San Antonio in six games in the Western Conference’s first round, and it took the Grizzlies that long only because the Spurs’ Gary Neal made a tying shot at the buzzer in Game 5.

Dallas outlasted Portland in six games, but only after blowing a 23-point lead in the third quarter of Game 4 — pretty much the opposite of what the Mavs have done since then, winning six times after trailing by seven-plus points in the fourth quarter.

Even in defeat, individual efforts such as Carmelo Anthony’s 42-point, 17-rebound game for New York against Boston and Dwight Howard’s 46-point night for Orlando against Atlanta were outstanding.

Memphis and Oklahoma City played a three-overtime game in the West semifinals, after a couple of wild swings in regulation.

Dallas swept the Los Angeles Lakers, topped by a Game 4 blowout that somehow made you keep watching, via some combination of Jason Terry’s nine 3-pointers and the Lakers’ meltdown.

Each conference final series lasted only five games but was highly competitive. If not for James’ last-second defensive stand against Derrick Rose, Miami could have found itself tied 2-2 with Chicago, lacking the home-court advantage. Dallas staged a comeback from 15 points down in the last five minutes against Oklahoma City, when the outcome of that series was in doubt.

Which brings us to the NBA Finals, a series that’s positioned to be remembered as the most riveting and competitive in league history. Then comes the hope and anticipation created by the June 23 draft, followed by the big letdown and uncertainty that will accompany the lockout.

Fans undoubtedly will lose interest in the league as the labor talks play out, especially if any or all of the 2011-12 season is lost. Regardless, these playoffs will have left us wanting more.