By this time next week, the first round of the playoffs will be in the rear view mirror. For now, there are only a few match-ups that have been decided – mostly in the East. But before we go there, easily the best story so far in the post-season has been the 3-1 lead that the Golden State Warriors own over the Dallas Mavericks. If it wouldn’t have been for the Game Two meltdown that resulted in the ejection of both Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, we could be discussing one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NBA playoffs.

Instead, we still have three more games that could possibly be played to decide the outcome. Obviously, Dallas will need all three contests, while the boys from Oakland only need one more victory. What’s crazy is that Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki have been playing pretty good ball, but the Mavericks simply can’t keep up with the speed that is presented by Davis, Jackson and Jason Richardson. OK, Dirk had disappeared in Game One, and Howard disappeared late in Game Four, but overall they haven’t been too bad – just not good enough.

The oft-injured Davis has provided some of the best statistical production in the first round, and he is hoping to keep it rolling into the second round. Davis leads all players in the series in points (25.8), assists (4.8) and steals (2.3). As a team, the Mavericks are on the winning end of team rebounds, assists, and steals… but it’s the points (96.8) and points against (102.0) that have provided the difference. Can MVP hopeful Nowitzki turn things around? This battle continues…

Not surprisingly the rest of the Western conference, save the Phoenix Suns/Los Angeles Lakers match-up, also packs a punch. The Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz appear to have themselves in a home-court throw-down, as the home team has one all five games, giving the Rockets the 3-2 edge over the Jazz. Yao Ming has been having a terrific series, averaging 25.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. Utah’s big man in the front court isn’t doing to shabby himself, as Carlos Boozer is averaging 22.3 points and 11.5 rebounds a game. The team statistics are pretty much dead even to this point; it’s still anyone’s series.

The San Antonio Spurs lead the Denver Nuggets 2-1 in the series, but it hasn’t been all Spurs, as projected by many experts. Since the Nuggets won Game One, Allen Iverson and company have hung tough in every game, but have allowed the Spurs to come out with back-to-back wins. Despite being matched up against the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby, Tim Duncan has managed 20 points and 10 rebounds a night, while his partner in crime Tony Parker has dished almost seven assists a game. Carmelo Anthony has put up nearly 30 points and 10 rebounds a night but as of right now, the only part that matters is the series standings.

In the East, things have turned out a bit different with three of four series resulting in 4-0 sweeps. The Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers all made quick work of their opponents. Easily the most shocking of these results was the Bulls/Heat series. Miami was listed as the team that no one would want to play in the post-season, and the Bulls took that challenge and made a mockery out of it. They out-scored, out-hustled and out-played the Heat, who looked old and slow towards the end of every game. How far can these Bulls go?

Luol Deng and Ben Gordon have been huge thus far. Deng’s team-leading 26.3 points a game along with Gordon’s 26.0 have made the duo the highest scoring tandem in the first round of the playoffs. Deng has also been a monster on the boards with nine a contest, while Gordon’s 5.5 assists a night have provided plenty of balance. The upcoming series against the Pistons will obviously be a lot more difficult than that with the Heat, but the Bulls could surprise a lot of people. The big storyline will likely be Ben Wallace returning to Detroit for a playoff series, but it would be foolish for the Pistons to overlook the guard play that the Bulls have in store for them.

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, will be awaiting the winner of the Toronto Raptors/New Jersey Nets series. The Nets have a 3-1 series lead, with the only strong game by Toronto coming in Game Two, which featured strong performances by Anthony Parker (26 points, eight rebounds) and Chris Bosh (25 points, 13 rebounds). Both have since fallen flat, with Bosh making only eight of his last 22 shots, and Parker even worse with four conversions in his last 16 attempts.

Parker has even seen a decrease in minutes due to his inability to stop Vince Carter, who has absolutely gone off in the last two games – both occurring in New Jersey. Carter is averaging 24.8 points a game in the series, but after two games in the teens in Toronto, he’s responded with nights of 37 and 27 points. Jason Kidd has provided everything else for the Nets, as he’s averaging a triple-double for the series, as well as 2.3 steals a game. This could also be a dangerous team, assuming they make it to the second round.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the play of one specific Cavalier. No, not LeBron James - who was fortunate enough to not have to carry the team through their first round series - but big man Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Big Z has poured on the scoring effort, averaging 19 points over the series. Ilgauskas has also added 11 boards a night, helped immensely by his Game Four totals of 20 points and 19 rebounds. All of the hard work paid off, as the Cavs now get to wait out the Nets/Raptors series to see who they’ll be facing in Round Two.

From the Top Of the Key (May 1) - cont.

Ladies and gentlemen, your (likely) 2006-07 Rookie of the Year.

Hardware Handouts

The NBA has been handing out their end-of season awards over the last few days. The aforementioned Marcus Camby took home the Defensive Player of the Year award, as well as a spot on the All-Defensive Team. Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen, Kobe Bryant and Raja Bell rounded off the first team. Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace, Jason Kidd, Kirk Hinrich, and Tayshaun Prince made the second team.

Definite snubs include Shawn Marion, Josh Smith and Shane Battier, all of whom I would put ahead of Prince and Hinrich. You can argue the positioning with Hinrich, but no chance that Prince deserves a spot over any of those three, but this could also be why I don’t get to vote in these matters.

The sixth man of the year was handed to Suns super guard Leandro Barbosa. Jerry Stackhouse was likely considered by many, but there is no arguing as to the impact that Barbosa had this season off the bench.

The Most-Improved Player of this season was Warriors guard Monta Ellis. It’s amazing how the kid was able to find time to shine this season, but he really stepped up his game in the absence of Jason Richardson early on, as well as Baron Davis around mid-season. Ellis averaged over 14 points and four assists per contest, improving over his six points, two assists average from last season. He just barely beat out Kevin Martin, who likely ruined his shot at this award by coming on strong towards the end of last season. The three-vote spread was the narrowest in the history of the award.

Wrapping up the hardware will likely be Brandon Roy, taking home the Rookie of the Year award that is to be announced on Wednesday. This decision shouldn’t have been hard for the voters, as this wasn’t a particularly strong season for the young guys. A few showed promise, like Andrea Bargnani and LaMarcus Aldridge, but Roy’s numbers were far and away better than his colleagues.

Looking Forward

The second session of the playoffs is upon us, but we must not overlook the huge implications of the Dallas/Golden State match-up. If the Warriors can somehow pull of this enormous upset, the Phoenix series (versus San Antonio/Denver) becomes that much more important. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that the NBA champion could be determined in the second round of the playoffs.

The Eastern teams will be waiting out the West to start up round two. The unfortunate ones are the Nets and Raptors, who will have a minimum of one less game of rest on their opponents – and that’s assuming the Nets can pull out a win in Game Five. The extra rest becomes a vital part of the post-season, as the Mavericks can attest after taking several match-ups to the seventh game last season before crashing in the finals against the Heat.

Players to watch in the near term include Tracy McGrady, Mehmet Okur and Richard Jefferson. While none of these guys have gotten incredibly special attention thus far in the playoffs, they’ll have to be on their ‘A’ game over the next few days if their respective teams are going to flourish. McGrady’s 26 points and 16 assists in Game Five is a solid start – but can he keep it going?

By this time next week, the first round of the playoffs will be complete and we’ll be talking about what needs to take place for each team to continue their journey. Will we be talking about a Warriors/Rockets series? Maybe even a Nuggets/Suns bash? Only time will tell with this Western conference. Catch you all next week…