Why the 2014 NBA postseason looks like one for the ages

After a thrilling regular season chalk full of great basketball, drama and story lines, NBA observers anticipated a memorable 2014 postseason. Through five days, the playoffs have lived up to the billing, and with just two games down in each first round series, it's already time to ask if we're in the early stages of what might be the best postseason the Association has ever seen.

A great postseason starts, first and foremost, with great competition, and through 16 games, fans have already been treated to a plethora of tight contests. For just the fifth time ever and the first time in five years, five of the eight opening round series are even after two games, and of the three series that see one team leading 2-0, three out of six games have been decided by five points or less, with two of those games going to overtime.

A common knock on the playoffs and the NBA in general is that parity doesn't exist and that the first round or two is predictable, but of the three series that aren't tied right now, it's the lower seed that has the 2-0 advantage in two of them thanks to the Wizards and Trail Blazers taking both games in Chicago and Houston, respectively.

In fact, the lower seeds are 9-7 through their first 16 road games combined to start this postseason, and a look at how higher seeds (home teams) have fared dominated through 16 games over the last decade really puts the early parity this year into perspective:

The only higher seed to hold serve on home court through two games was the two-time defending champion Heat, but don't take that as a discouraging sign if you're still seeking parity, as the Bobcats had the ball in a one-possession game with seconds remaining in Game 2 before Dwyane Wade stole it from them.

Top to bottom, the start to these playoffs has been as awesome as we could have possibly envisioned. In the East, the 38-win Hawks stole a game in Indiana from the 56-win Pacers and look like the potential matchup nightmare for the No. 1 seed that the numbers foreshadowed. The Bobcats have played the Heat about as well as anyone could have asked them to despite a hobbled Al Jefferson, the Raptors and Nets have played two outrageously close games in front of an absolute madhouse at Air Canada Centre that included a lint-rolling Drake, and the Wizards went into Chicago and shocked the basketball world by coming out with a 2-0 series lead after a late fourth quarter rally and overtime victory in Game 2.

Out West, the playoff basketball has matched the roller coaster of emotions that was the regular season playoff race. The Mavericks not only survived two games in San Antonio, but thrived, following up their near upset in Game 1 with a rare 21-point beat down of the Spurs in Game 2. The Bogut-less Warriors remain heavy underdogs against the Clippers, especially after a Game 2 massacre, but they're also all square at one game apiece with home court advantage in what's now a best-of-five series, and the Oracle crowd alone should be enough to make the next two games interesting. Meanwhile in Blazers/Rockets, LaMarcus Aldridge has 89 points, 26 rebounds and five blocks through two games in Houston that have been decided by a combined nine points.

Finally, there's Grizzlies/Thunder, where Memphis and Oklahoma City are in the early stages of what looks more like a classic late May series than it does a 2 vs. 7 first round matchup. The two teams provided the early game of the tournament in Game 2, which included this unfathomable play from Kevin Durant:

How?

That sequence alone would have been enough insanity for one week of first round action - that it just kind of blended in among the rest of the madness is a testament to how spoiled we've been so far.

We've witnessed just five days, 16 games and only about a third of the first round of the 2014 playoffs, but the close games, tight finishes and monster performances already have us wondering if we're on the cusp of an epic postseason for the ages.

The best part? There are still seven or eight weeks left to figure that out, so wipe the drool off your face and get ready for a trio of Game 3's in Atlanta, Memphis and Golden State tonight, which by the way, all involve 1-1 series.