Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember the NBA playoffs being this hotly contested, almost across the board, in years. And it’s about time, too. After MJ left, I lost a good bit of interest in the NBA for a couple of years; there just weren’t many interesting players, and the teams seemed, well, weak.

I despise the Lakers; like the Rockets and Spurs; has anybody else won one since then? Anyway, we’re starting to see some teams with personality emerge again: Detroit with some serious defense, the Nets who never walk when they can run, Dallas who just wants the ball back so they can shoot, the Lakers who are completely disfunctional, but apparently (being L.A.) have no end of souls for sale to ensure yet more undeserved wins, the Kid in Minnesota finally getting some help and learning to move the ball around, and the Heat–man, Dwayne who? No need to ask that any more.

In fact, the only teams that seem to me to be really threatening to fade away are the Spurs (dare I say this? Yes, I dare; this series’ collapse against the Lakers was simply pathetic) and the Pacers (still a good team, but I think their time has passed).

But we’ve already had an amazing collapse/comeback (depending on how you see it), two other teams down 2-0 have pushed their series to a game 7, and things are just getting hotter as we move down the stretch.

I no longer care who wins in the East; I just want somebody to destroy the Lakers and shut UP that whining Kobe and pitifully over-rated Shaq and incredibly annoying Payton and just downright evil Malone. So please, somebody step up.

But in the meantime, I sure am enjoying the basketball.