Had Garnett not gotten hurt, maybe we would have seen a great series between the Celts and Cavs for much higher stakes. But even though it's merely the first round, the Bulls-Celtics series will have made these playoffs worthwhile even if the rest of the series are 4-0 sweeps.

It's not merely that they've played seven overtimes in six games - sometimes teams can't shake one another, and while that creates drama, it's not in and of itself enough to constitute an all-time great match-up. What sets this apart is that the teams are matching each other, great play for great play, and a lot of players are playing major roles.

Derrick Rose's block of Rajon Rondo's shot, Joakim Noah's steal and coast to coast dunk, Ray Allen hitting a long two with Noah's outstretched hand right in his face - it's one huge play after another.

The other silver lining besides the entertainment value is that the Bulls are now a franchise on the rise. Had Garnett been healthy and the Celts won 4-1, the Bulls would still have a lot of young talent, but they wouldn't have had this high-pressure playoff experience. This probably fast-forwards their development significantly - a good thing for Rose, Noah, Thomas and all their promising young players. That's good for the NBA.

Unfortunately, I think whoever wins this series will be too worn out to take down Orlando, but who knows? I was wrong about Garnett's injury "marring" the playoffs, so hopefully, I'm wrong about this, too.