On Friday night, we witnessed the future of the NBA. Not in terms of a single player or a team or a coach.

No, the future of the league can be summed up with one word: speed.

Speed at all five positions. Skilled, multi-position players who blend together, play any spot on the floor and run like hell.

Both the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors upset their more heralded, traditional-style opponents Friday by going full bore for 48 minutes, and the results were staggering. Chicago has the defending champion Miami Heat on the brink after taking a 3-0 lead with a 104-96 road win. Golden State made the 67-win Dallas Mavericks look silly by putting on a dazzling display of running, shooting and attacking in a 109-91 victory. The Mavs are not only down 2-1, but they also came unglued and looked like a lost team by game's end.

Strategically, the Bulls and Warriors are much different. Chicago is very organized, using disciplined sets to get into its draw-and-kick offense. With Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni all able to run the floor, dribble the ball and shoot from the perimeter, the Bulls just spread you out and either shoot or attack. The Warriors, on the other hand, basically have no plan, other than to run like crazy, focus on mismatches and have as much fun as possible. The similarity between the two teams, though, is the overall speed and versatility of the rosters. It's easy to see that the Heat simply can't keep up with Chicago. And even though Dallas is a fast team, it's getting run off the floor by the Warriors.

The NBA deserves some credit for the current trend. By allowing zone defenses into the game in 2002, the league basically made the 7-foot stiff obsolete. Now it's impossible to hide a player who's a non-factor offensively. It used to be that every player on the floor had to be covered, so teams like the Utah Jazz would put Greg Ostertag near the hash mark on the sidelines, and his defender had to be above the free-throw line or be called for illegal defense. Ostertag was basically moved out of the play so that John Stockton and Karl Malone could play pick and roll, and then he'd go back and clog the lane defensively at the other end.. Now, since the big man doesn't have to be covered, teams can't afford to have him out there. So instead, they play five guys who are all actually skilled at the same time. And since there aren't any big slow guys in the lane, it's easier for both teams to score.

In the end, it's awesome to watch. The games are more exciting than they were a few years ago. And it helps that you've got innovative coaches like Don Nelson and Scott Skiles willing to try new things.

Incidentally, I heard an announcer on TV Friday night say that "if the Warriors can add a good low-post, back-to-the-basket player, they can take the next step." Don't buy it! The very reason Golden State is so good right now is that they DON'T play a post player. That means that the lane is open, rather than clogged. Five guys at the three-point line, all able to shoot, dribble and pass.

As soon as you throw a big man on the block, it changes everything. Avery Johnson would love nothing more than for Nellie to go back to a traditional offense and put a big man on the block, even if that big man were really good. Then Johnson could devise a strategy to defend the Warriors. And by the way, there's a myth out there that Nellie has "never had a great big man." Trust me, Nellie doesn't want a great big man, unless that big man can shoot from three point-range. Anyone remember the Patrick Ewing/Nellie pairing?

One final observation: Nelson is in Dirk Nowitzki's head. The Warriors coach is making sure to attack Dirk one-on-one regardless of who he's guarding. Nellie did the same thing to Steve Nash in the regular season, and the strategy is working on Dirk. It's wearing him down, making him think and taking his confidence away. BUT -- and this is a big but, so to speak -- the series is only 2-1. If Dirk can regain his form, Dallas can win Game 4 and regain control of the series.