Warriors wait for finals foes

There’s no need to analyze the NBA playoffs to death,” said retired newsman Mike Genovea, on Messenger last week. Mike, now a resident of the San Francisco Bay area in California, is a diehard fan of the region’s home team—the Golden State Warriors.

“This postseason, it will be the defending world champs Warriors against the Milwaukee Bucks in the finals,” according to the former Manila Chronicle sports editor and also ex-president of the Philippine Sportswriters Association last week.

Genovea’s forecast is running true to form for the Warriors, who swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the West Finals, 4-0, and will now enjoy a nine-day break ahead of a fifth consecutive appearance in the NBA championship.

The Warriors need the rest as they await the return of injured stars Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Iguodala. It also bodes well for their coach, Steve Kerr, who tapped sparsely used players in his deep bench to end Rip City’s dream of bringing home the Larry O’Brien trophy after 42 years.

Meanwhile, the Bucks, who own the best record in the NBA during the regular season, are facing more work than expected. The Toronto Raptors ground out a 120-102 victory against them on Tuesday and tied the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece.

The extended series is a delight for worldwide fans of the NBA as they follow a marquee television attraction in various time zones.

Toronto Coach Nick Nurse borrowed from Kerr’s playbook on Tuesday and employed the services of three reserves to pull off another win against Giannis Antetokounmpo and company and made mockery of Milwaukee’s “fear the deer” battle cry.

With top scorer Kawhi Leonard obviously hurting, Toronto’s depth finally shone, with six players carrying the load and scoring at least 13 points each.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, a former statistics man, chose to be brief and did not furnish facts and figures when discussing the league’s state of affairs.

When pressed, Marcial chose to be a miser for words. Among other topics, he said the rise and fall of attendance of games could be attributed to the “emergence of new technology, social media, economics and Metro Manila’s worsening traffic condition.”

He also said the league is “giving back to fans” through cheap ticket promotions and innovations that tend to follow those of the NBA, like the 24-second shot clock and rules on goal tending and flopping.

He said improved play has led to the emergence of new superstars with various strengths.

But Marcial was mum about officiating and how drafts and trades are done fairly to benefit all 12 teams and not just a few with already formidable lineups.