Terrific regular season, in The League. The Celtics breakthrough, the Lakers’ rise, the crazy scrum in the Western Conference. Blockbuster trades.

It was going to lead to great playoffs, almost inevitably. Had to. When these great teams begin meeting each other. Oh, yes.
Instead, we’re looking at one lopsided game after another, only one seven-game series so far and a 10-0 record for home teams in the second round.

Aside from Game 1 of the Phoenix-San Antonio series, which was a fantastic event … it’s been mostly ZZZZ time.

How come?

I’ve got two ideas here.

1. The regular season and the playoffs can’t really be compared. The former is a marathon, and teams with nice work ethics who stay healthy can do fairly well. The latter is more like a middle-distance race, and those who start fast or finish strong now are far more likely to win.

Thus, that No. 8 team? The difference between it and the top seed is far broader than the regular-season standings would suggest.

2. The Super Bowl Effect. Remember that run of Super Bowls — oh, the first 25 or so — that were dreary and lopsided year after year?

I decided, eventually, that the team that had even a marginal advantage could magnify that small edge into a decisive situation when looking a single opponent in a condensed time frame. One game. Or even best-of-seven.

The regular-season doesn’t allow much concentration on a given opponent. The postseason, however, does. And the good coaches (or even Doc Rivers) certainly are clever enough to 1) recognize their team’s advantage and 2) exploit it.

Lean on it. Press on it. Till the other guy bleeds or screams or quits.

That’s going on around the NBA playoffs, right now. Aside from the Celtics taking off three games in Atlanta in the first round, nearly every game has gone according to form.  The Lakers are winning because they are deeper and have Kobe Bryant. The Celtics are winning because they have Garnett, Allen and Pierce. The Hornets are winning because they have Chris Paul. Etc.

I now suspect we will not see a really good series … seven back-and-forth games between delicately balanced opponents … in this postseason. No one is going to trouble the Celtics in the East. My only hope for a tight series in the West is the Lakers vs. New Orleans,  and that’s far more “hope” than “expectation.”

And I see the Celtics having little trouble with whoever comes out of the West.

Great regular season, great playoffs … don’t go hand in hand. Seems counter-intuitive. But there you are.