The anxious undercurrent of these NBA playoffs

THESE ARE GOING to be anxious playoffs.

There are stresses within the high-stakes games naturally, but there's also another layer that is perhaps unique to this season. It's the pressure of the aftermath and it will mount by the day, by the loss and, oddly in this unusual season, even by the win in some cases.

With so many contenders loaded with fragile big-name free agents and other concerns that are tied to the uncertainty of their finishes, there is more at stake than just winning. There's also the future and, in these times, that's always on the mind.

This applies across the board in the Eastern Conference, where it's accentuated because you could make a legitimate case that any of the top…