Yes I know that GS is on the verge of doing the unthinkable. It would be the first time since the league has gone to a 7 game first round that a #8 would have advanced. It was done twice when the first round was a 5 game series.

Notwithstanding GS possible upset of Dallas, I for one would like to see the first round eliminated so that there are two rounds before the Finals.

Yes, sometimes the 4th and 5th seed teams have a very good series and maybe even the 3rd and 6th seed teams. However, it has been rare indeed that the 5th - 8th place seed team has advanced to the NBA Finals. I remember a Houston team, I believe with Hakeem that was not among the top 4 seeds that won it all, but that may have been the only time that has happened. If not it could not have happened more than one or two other times.

The first round is a waste and a bore. All it does it create the chance for an injury to a star player on one the top 4 seeded teams before the real competition begins.

On top of that the season is long enough, 90 games including exhibition games even before the playoffs begin. That means well over 100 games for the NBA finalists.

I say do away with the farcical first round. So this year last year's NBA champ would not have made the playoffs. Big deal. The Cardinals are probably not going to make the playoffs this year.

When our team is strong, your's is a compelling argument. They keep all of these teams so that interest (attendance) remains high for more cities later in the year. Playoff hopes added more excitement (and fans) to MSG and helped Isiah keep his job. The baseball playoffs are more pure and several very good teams are kept away. As a Lions fan, I wish the playoffs included about 30 teams (just kiddin)...........good grief, We don't make it even with 30 teams.....................

I agree with that. Cut down the number of games...make the regular season mean a bit more.

I would cut down the regular season before the playoffs. They don't need to shorten the length, but reduce these ridiculous 3 games in 4 night stretches.

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Average NBA salary this year is around $5,200,000. That makes for over $63k a regular season game. I'm o.k. with three games in four nights. I'd say they're lucky there are no double-headers.

FYI - $63k is about the two thirds mark for U.S. household incomes - two thirds of U.S. households make less in one year than the average NBA player makes in one night.

I just think that there are too many games, too bunched together, and the quality of play suffers for it.

Less games = more meaningful games

The average salary is defined as a percentage of revenues (if I remember correctly). They would see a drop in gross salaries if the # of games were reduced.

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

Yeah, and something I just thought of is how those intense stretches compare to the playoffs, relative to other sports. Football plays once a week during the regular season, and again in the playoffs. Baseball is roughly once a day, 5 or 6 days a week, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. But even though we talk a lot about back-to-backs in the NBA regular season, plus the occasional crazy four games in five nights stretch, those things have basically nothing to do with the playoffs.

I think the first round show be a 5 game instead of 7....

just sayin.

Never. You'd have a bunch of elite teams and the rest competing for the wrost records so that they have the best chances in the lottery.

The first round is fun. Golden State vs. Dallas is a perfect example.

The best part is watching the agony of defeat for me-first players like Kobe... who by the way had 1 assist last night even though he virtually touched the ball on every single Lakers' possession.