The league executives will be pleased that whoever is playing is doing it with a degree of (BMcD, this is for you) *remarkableness.* Good entertainment will sell in any market around the globe, and the first round was over the top. Second round looks just as unpredictable. Does it matter as much who plays in the digital age? Just as long as they play well.

If the Lakers fall, the TV ratings for the last two rounds will go way down. The league doesn't care about that? Of course it does. It wants the Lakers against Miami. If it gets Atlanta against Memphis, the bean counters will be apoplectic.

Couldn't happen to a better bunch of killsports.

Who 'dat at the door?
The NBA Stern Enforced Action Leveling Team 6? A stealth team of paid off refs, worried network executives and meddlesome league big wigs, assembled together to make sure that the World is protected by bringing major market match ups with pre-selected individual stars determined by the marketing arm of the above mentioned New Order.
Good-bye Mr. Mohammed bin al Cuban....

The Lakers always lose badly. I don't mean they don't like losing, I mean they act like children when they lose. Remember Bryant crying in Detroit? Yeah. That was extremely satisfying.

The Mavs have the Laker's number. Let's see if the refs let them dial it.

If the Stern Adjustment Bureau doesn't use foul calls to "adjust" things in game 3, I'll be very, very surprised. Look for Bryant to get so many foul calls that they call in a backup stats keeper.

Watching the Lakers lose last night was like recovering from a long illness. On some level I believe the 13 missed shots back in that one Blazer-Laker series when we had Pippen, was the beginning of a giant piece of bad luck. I believe that comeback dragged us through a vortex. If we had won that game, even monumental events like 9/11 would not have happened.
Mark, I don't know if you remember, but I felt compelled to call in the radio station the day after we lost as a comedy grief counselor. I said there were 7 stages of grief: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3...
I wondered if anyone else tied the fate of the Blazers to the overall universe, so when Jack had the post showing bin Ladin in a Lakers uniform, I sensed I was not alone.
To have the situation in Pakistan, followed by the game at the Staples Center last night is a cosmic hint. I feel that the Big Wheel of the Galactic Plane may have turned in our favor. Seeing Lionel Hollins and even Zach Randolph doing well in Memphis, is another sign. Remember: Memphis is where Elvis lived.
Now, the Anti-Christ Kobe could still bring the Lakers back, but this is a working theory.
Oh, and speaking of theories, I love how my Degree of Unusualness theory, was upgraded to Degree of Remarkableness. That's the kind of collaborative effort we need if we're going to get through the next vortex. The NBA lock-out could happen in 2012, so if they don't settle this, there is a good chance our planet will be destroyed.

The only thing from Texas I like is grapefruit.

So far, it looks like the Blazers handled the Mavs better than the Lakers can.

just occurred to me there are no teams from the west in the playoffs. [no one counts the Fakers]
no denver/utah/phoenix/clipps , golden state/seattle...