Parity has struck the NBA playoffs, where the conference semifinals are all tied.
The four series are all drawn at one game apiece — the first time that’s happened in the second round of the NBA playoffs since the league went to its current format more than a quarter-century ago.
For favorites like Miami, New York, San Antonio and Oklahoma City, home-court advantage has disappeared, and now it’s the underdogs who can control their own fates simply by taking care of business on their home floors.
A wild weekend is ahead, without question.
The Heat, Knicks, Spurs and Thunder are four of the league’s top five road teams this season. That probably isn’t being received as great news for Chicago, Indiana, Golden State and Memphis, the lower-seeded clubs who will be hosting pivotal Game 3s when playoff action resumes on Friday night and Saturday.
“Pretty cool. The NBA’s loving it,” Heat forward LeBron James said. “When it comes to the playoffs, I always continue to say no matter how many games you win or lose in the regular season, once you get to the playoffs everybody’s record is 0-0. So I think it’s great. I think it’s great for our fans, I think it’s great for the competition that every series is tied 1-1.” After a first round with only two sweeps — by Miami and San Antonio, the top seeds in the Eastern and Western Conferences — the tone for the second round was set pretty quickly around the league. Miami lost Game 1 at home to a wounded and weary team from Chicago. San Antonio needed a huge comeback to beat Golden State in Game 1 of their series, then saw the Warriors simply come back and take Game 2.
The Knicks lost Game 1 to Indiana before evening up their matchup, and the Thunder are likely feeling lucky that they’re not in a 0-2 hole after Memphis had plenty of chances to take the opening game of their series.
“When you get this deep into the playoffs, they’re all good teams, they’re all very good teams more than capable of winning at home or on the road,” Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. “So I’m not surprised at all.
