SBN Reacts: Ebbs and Flows of Over-reactions in West playoffs

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The NBA Playoffs are a rollercoaster, to say the least. A team wins and you think they might never lose again. A team loses, and you wonder how they could possibly win again.

Warriors vs. Lakers

When the Golden State Warriors came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings in round one and then split their first two games of their second round, West Semifinals series against the Los Angeles Lakers, fans were pretty sure the Warriors were destined for another NBA title — or least to make the West Finals again.

73% of fans across the nation picked the Warriors to beat the Lakers in this second round series.

But then the next games were played, where the Lakers took care of business on their home floor in LA, and now lead the series over the Warriors, 3-1.

Obviously, fans did not predict the Lakers’ top-ranked defensive ability to shut down the Warriors. And we assumed that, since the Warriors had won a pair of road games in the Kings series, that all their road woes (11-32 before those big wins) were gone.

But the Lakers had other plans, and the Warriors inability to win on the road could cost them the entire series despite starting out with home court advantage because they dropped game 1 at home to the Lakers.

Now the Warriors have to win three straight, including a road game, to win the series.

Suns vs. Nuggets

We also saw the Denver Nuggets win convincingly over the Phoenix Suns in their opening games last week, with a blowout win in Game 1 and a gritty comeback win in Game 2.

Once fans saw those scores, the demise of the Suns was written all over the walls. Even here in Phoenix, we were filled with pessimism over the Suns chances to come back in the series given what we saw in Games 1 and 2.

A full 76% of fans across the nation saw the Nuggets 2-0 lead and said it’s over. In fact, historically it’s almost impossible to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a playoff series.

But here’s a little statistical nugget for you: 31% of teams who’d been favored to win a playoff series without home court advantage, like the Suns in this one and the Warriors in the first round, had come back from an initial 0-2 deficit to win the series.

31%.

The Warriors did it to the Kings in round one. Can the Suns do it to the Nuggets in round two?

Suns-Nuggets is tied 2-2 now after Phoenix won both home games this weekend. The Suns aren’t quite back to favored to win the series yet, considering two of the last three games are in Denver at Ball Arena where they are 39-7 this year. But the Suns have a much better chance than they did a few short days ago.

What say you, Suns fans?

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