NBA Playoffs = WWE?

I was trying to keep today's post positive but after watching last night's NBA playoff game, I just couldn't contain my rage any longer and I had to write about it. Games like last night remind me why I can't stand playoff basketball in general and why the NBA will ALWAYS be below the NFL in the list of sports that I follow. I know the NBA hates it when a team gets swept like the Orlando Magic was on the verge of doing. And I know that the NBA will do anything in their power to extend a series but can they make it any more obvious?

If I didn't know better, I thought I was watching a WWE wrestling match. Dwight Howard is pumped up with enough roids. There were enough "People's Elbows" to go around. Bodies were sprawled out on the floor. Marquis Daniels even knocked himself out trying to "head-butt" the armpit of Gortat. All that's missing was Matt Barnes smashing a chair over Garnett's head and Jameer Nelson putting Rondo in a full nelson. The NBA commissioner Vince McMahon David Sterns already pre-determined the outcome of last night's game.

The officiating in this series has been a complete joke. There were so many bogus calls against the C's. Perkins got two quick technicals for just breathing and got ejected. Guys were running INTO Rasheed Wallace and he would get tagged with a foul. Meanwhile, Dwight Howard is allowed to just run around swinging his elbows all over the place knocking out anyone foolish enough to remain in the area. And do you see the refs whistling him for a foul?! Nope. And if anyone even thought about complaining about the refs to the media, they better be prepared to be $25,000 poorer.

Anyways, speaking of Dwight Howard Coward...I hate the guy. I freaking hate the guy. I don't just sports hate him. I "hate him" hate him. I hate him more than Ron Artest, Joakim Noah, Anderson Varajao, Amare Stoudemire, Derek Fisher, and Kobe Bryant combined. That's a lot of hate. He is clearly the dirtiest player in the NBA. He continues to get away with these vicious elbows. He caught Garnett with at least 3 of them in Game 4. He gave Big Baby a concussion as a result of an elbow in Game 5. Before last night's game, I wrote as a joke on my Facebook page, "Over/under on the number of times Dwight Coward 'accidentally' elbows a Celtic tonight...2.5". Wow, I should have set the over/under at 6.5!

I have no clue what's going to happen in Game 6 back in Boston. I'm not sure the Celtics have enough healthy bodies to suit up and play. Rondo is clearly banged up. Garnett and Pierce look old again. I suppose I should just save myself the aggravation and just skip watching the game but the homer in me won't let me. I love my team too much. Go C's!

Over/under on the number of Celtics that Dwight Howard injures in Game 6? 3.5.