NBA Playoffs Entering Second Round

The NBA playoffs finished their first round with the Los Angeles Clippers winning the final seventh game of their series with the Memphis Grizzlies to advance.  So the sixteen initial teams have now been reduced to eight.  The biggest surprise so far was the early exit of the Chicago Bulls, who suffered devastating injuries to their star players Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.  Other than that, though, things went pretty much as expected.  Of the teams I was rooting for, four advanced and four didn't.  The San Antonio Spurs, my personal favorite for this year's playoffs, advanced and will play against the Los Angeles Clippers.  On the other hand, my least favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers with its retinue of prima donnas, advanced as well and will play against Oklahoma City, at least giving me the opportunity to root for the Thunder, my next-to-least favorite team in the playoffs.  I really do like the way the Thunder play as a team and the attitude of its players; I just wish the franchise had remained in Seattle instead of moving to a state deeply entrenched in reactionary politics.  Maybe in the future I'll be able to better dissociate the team from its location: it seems to have worked with San Antonio, after all.

Here's a list of the remaining teams in the order of my "liking":

1--San Antonio Spurs
2--Boston Celtics
3--Miami Heat
4--Los Angeles Clippers
5--Philadelphia 76ers
6--Indiana Pacers
7--Oklahoma City Thunder
8--Los Angeles Lakers

So by the above list, if all goes well, then in the next round San Antonio will beat the Clippers, Oklahoma City will beat the Lakers, Boston will beat Philadelphia, and Miami will beat Indiana.  Should be fun to follow. I hope that we don't see any more terrible injuries, regardless which team might be affected..