Not to be a jerk, but the NBA sucks compared to NCAA basketball. A lot of NBA players don't have the passion or even the will to play defense during the regular season and just magically turn it on for the playoffs. But, for some reason, ESPN and other sports networks cover the NBA playoffs so much, leading to more hype. NCAA basketball has passion and great moments.
Along those lines, I think the NHL playoffs and just the NHL as a league is a much better product than the NBA. That's just me.