Who knew Mac would react like that?

As good as the Mavericks and Suns were all season, it’s not necessarily a big surprise to anyone that the Spurs appear to be cruising towards another championship. Nor is it surprising that the best player in the East (LeBron) carried his team to the Finals. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a host of unexpected occurrences that went on the NBA after the regular season wrapped up. Here are some of our top postseason surprises …

The Warriors
Without a doubt, the biggest story of the postseason. Other than Baron Davis and the 1 million people in “We Believe” t-shirts at the Oracle Arena (not to mention the sudden burst of celebrities in the GS crowd like Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson — who were noticeably absent when the Warriors were fighting for their playoff lives), who saw this coming? Dallas was coming off a 67-win season with their ‘06 Western Conference championship roster intact, while Golden State had barely sneaked into the playoffs, winning nine of their last 10 during the regular season. Sure, the Warriors had owned Dallas in the regular season, but we’ve seen how much that means in the Spurs/Cavs series. At the very least, most of us assumed that when Dirk was presented with his MVP trophy, it was going to happen on a basketball court during the second round and not in a press conference.

The Lottery
So much for tanking and conspiracy theories, huh? Pretty much everyone thought the Celtics and Grizzlies would get the Top 2 picks, and if not those two, maybe the Bulls would get one of the spots to ensure Kevin Durant and Greg Oden went to big-market franchises like Boston and Chicago. But when the Blazers and Sonics got the 1-2 picks, everyone was shocked … even the two Sonics fans we saw at the Lottery who were wearing full Shawn Kemp uniforms.

Kobe making more noise off the court than on it
After an incredible regular season: which included a record-setting March in which he scored 50-plus points in four straight games, led the League with 37.5 points per game, and almost single-handedly led the Lakers to the playoffs, Kobe’s postseason was brief and quiet, as his team was sent fishing after five games. Then, almost out of nowhere, Kobe was on the radio demanding a trade. While the basketball world buzzed with speculation — “Kobe to the Knicks?” “Kobe to the Bulls?” “Kobe to the Suns?” — a few hours later, the demand was rescinded. Even with his team eliminated, Kobe became the story of the NBA.

T-Mac’s reaction after another first-round exit
Seeing a team’s superstar in tears following a tough Game 7 loss would normally be only moderately surprising — especially considering all the scrutiny Mac has been under for failing to get his teams past the first round throughout his career and the pressure he put on himself — but T-Mac’s emotional reaction was more shocking because of the way he talked about Game 7 before hand: saying it was just another Game 7 and dismissing the talk that it was the biggest game of his career. He actually seemed laid-back about the whole thing. After McGrady put up 29 points and 13 dimes in that season-ending loss to Utah, though, his teammates should have been the ones crying. The Rockets will have to make upgrades during the off season — preferably on the perimeter and at the power forward position — to take some pressure off of Mac.

Baron Davis
The Bodyguard (that is a sick nickname, Kenny Smith) was nothing short of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This is a guy who hasn’t sniffed the playoffs since his New Orleans days — and he was spectacular then, too — so people may have forgotten how well he performs under pressure. He reminded people that when he is healthy, he is one of the most explosive players in this game. Don’t believe me? Ask Andrei Kirilenko.