Yeah, right.
The Chicago Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics - as I predicted - are headed for a championship showdown. And over the weekend they showed why. The Sonics beat the Jazz like an old bass drum and the Bulls taught the Magic some old NBA tricks.
The two teams won their combined conference championship series openers by an unheard of 68 points as Seattle rocked Utah 102-72 and Chicago destroyed Orlando 121-83.
Utah has two of the best and most durable players in the league in Karl Malone and John Stockton, but they simply don't match up against Seattle, especially in the middle. Let's see, which center do I like - Shawn Kemp or Felton Spencer? Plus, Gary Payton has blown past Stockton as the league's best point guard and the Sonics have the NBA's most underrated player in Detlef Schrempf.
Seattle played a bit soft in its opening series against Sacramento, but the Sonics - who won 62 games in the regular season - have been hot ever since. They finally realize that this is their year to get to the finals, especially since Utah eliminated San Antonio, which would have matched up better against Seattle.
THE Bulls' victory margin was a bit of a shock, especially since this series received so much advanced hype. But one man has made a big difference all season and - love him or hate him - Dennis Rodman had another huge game yesterday.
The human tattoo not only yanked 21 rebounds and scored 13 points, but he also played excellent defense against man-mountain Shaquille O'Neal, whom the Bulls wisely decided not to double-team.
Rodman had some help once O'Neal got his hands on the ball, but Shaq's 27 points weren't nearly enough to offset the complete shutdown of every other Magic player except Penny Hardaway - who had an outstanding game with 38 points.
Last year, Horace Grant came back to haunt the Bulls at the power forward position and he was carried off the court in the United Center. Yesterday, he literally went out with a whimper after he twisted his elbow. Earlier, the Chicago fans taunted him by chanting his name. Grant has been an outstanding player over the years, but he can't handle the stronger and tougher Rodman.
The Bulls are the oldest team in the league and the Magic the youngest. Rodman is 34. Michael Jordan - who wisely spread the ball around in the blowout first quarter - is 33. And Scottie Pippen, who looked healthy and rested, is 30.
Many thought that Penny and Shaq, both still NBA babies at 24, would wear down the older Bulls. But it was the other way around in the opener.
I suspect the Magic will again have to wait until next year against the better and deeper Bulls - who also played great pressure defense yesterday, along with dominating the boards by an awesome 62-28 margin, 20-6 on the offensive glass.
The Magic also lobbed bricks from the free-throw line, finishing a pathetic 8 of 24.
Here's another tired cliche: The losing team will come back and play extra hard in the second game. But why didn't the Jazz or Magic play extra hard in the critical first game instead, despite being on the road?
Let's close on a few facts instead: 79 percent of the time a team wins the opening game of a series, it advances. And 41 of the last 49 teams that won their series openers have advanced. Also, in 21 playoff series in which the Bulls won the opener, they lost just one.
I doubt that either set will end in four straight, but it's also quite possible.
So go ahead and pencil in Seattle and Chicago in the championship series on your NBA bracket sheet.
Actually, write it in ink.