Bay Area Sports Blogging

As NBA teams are eliminated from the first round of the playoffs, change is inevitable. The Dallas Mavericks lost to the New Orleans Hornets in the first round, and the Mavericks fired head coach Avery Johnson. The Phoenix Suns lost to the San Antonio Spurs, and there is talk going around that Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni could be gone.

Professional sports is all about winning now. If a team can't demonstrate that they can be legitimate contenders, changes will be made. As the coach for the Dallas Mavericks, he hasn't been as productive in the playoffs. Most, if not all, of the Mavericks key players on the 2006 NBA Finals roster and their 66 win season were acquired by their former head coach, Don Nelson. Avery Johnson landed on a good team waiting to explode and that the success of the Mavericks came from brilliant planning by Don Nelson.

Much like my March Madness bracket, the outcome of NBA games did not turn out as I expected. The Golden State Warriors rode into Los Angeles, against the Lakers, Sunday night and came away with an improbable win. Prior to the win, the Warriors had lost 9 straight in LA against the Lakers.

Stephen Jackson was money with two threes in the span of 40 seconds at the end of the game to preserve the victory for the Warriors. A loss after giving up a 26-point advantage would have ruined the morale of the team and likely pushed them out of the playoffs.

Houston just plain sucks. Even when they made their run in the 2nd quarter with the help of the refs, you never felt as if the Warriors would lose the game. All it took was a flip of the switch and the Warriors coasted to their second straight road victory.