There’s an old bit of NBA wisdom dating back to Auerbachian times, which suggests Game 4 is The Most Important Game in a 7-game series. For those of you shaking your head because every game is of equal importance, we’re talking homespun aphorisms here. No need to be so literal all the time.
What makes Game 4’s so vital is they act as a pivot point. Either somebody’s going up 3-1 and taking control of the series, or we’re headed back to Rockville all square at 2-games apiece. We could also have a sweep, but a sweep isn’t a series. A sweep is a blowout we all want to see end sooner rather than later. A series could go on forever and no one would ever get mad.
God bless early-round sweeps because we can all use some time off, but nobody wants to see them later in the playoffs. What we want in late May are epic series that stretch teams to their limits, thus revealing levels of inner strength and depth of character we only suspected might be present in the first place. Failing that, at least give us a memorable Game 4 with major stakes and high drama.
In the fiery crucible of a gotta-have-it playoff game, we want stars to become superstars and superstars to be challenged. We want starters to have podium games and role players to become folk heroes. No one needed this kind of test more than Oklahoma City, who entered the playoffs as young punks with something to prove. Sure, 68 wins in the regular season sounds nice, but what about that second-round wipeout against the Mavs last spring?
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