NBA Playoffs (First
Round)
WESTERN
CONFERENCE
#1 San Antonio Spurs VS #8 Utah Jazz (Regular
Season: 3-1 Spurs)
Series Preview:
For the second straight season the San Antonio Spurs have the top seed in the
West and for the second straight season draw an opponent that could potentially
give them problems.
For the Spurs the main goal in this series is to not
have a repeat of last year’s playoffs where they got bounced out of the first
round by the Memphis Grizzlies. Their main advantages in this series are their playoff
experience and the matchup in the guard positions. Point guard Tony Parker is
coming into this series after finishing the season as a dark horse MVP
candidate in which he averages 18.3 points and 7.47 assists a game. Shooting guard
Manu Ginobili continues to be the catalyst for the Spurs offense despite
missing 32 games this season either by injury of rest. Another factor in favor
of the Spurs is that they are better rested coming into the playoffs than last
season.
For the Utah Jazz, this is a surprise playoff berth
after seeming to be in a rebuilding mode. While looking as almost a certain
lottery team throughout the season they had a furious 11-4 April stretch after
starting the month at 27-26. After saying goodbye to the Deron Williams era
last season they have built a new core around power forward Paul Milsap,
forward/center Derrick Favors, center Al Jefferson, and shooting guard Gordon
Hayward. Of these four Jefferson has emerged leading the team with 19.2 points
and 9.6 rebounds a game. Point guard Devin Harris has had a bounce back year in
which he averaged 11.3 points and 5 assists a game. The young Jazz front line of
Jefferson, Milsap, and Favors may force the Spurs to insert center Tiago Splitter
into the starting lineup.
Impact Player
of the Series: Paul Milsap
They don’t call him Mr. Big Shot in Utah for
nothing. Milsap has provided plenty of heroics for the Jazz on his way to
averaging 16.6 points and 8.8 rebounds this season, both career highs. He needs
to make his presence felt in this series to balance out the experience gap that
the Spurs enjoy with center and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan in their front
line.
Prediction:
Spurs win series 4-1
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich learned the lesson
of keeping his Big 3 rested in time for the playoffs after their surprise exit
last year. The Spurs look ready to make what could possibly be Duncan’s last
playoff run.
While the Jazz did win their last meeting, it was in
a game where the Spurs Big 3 had the night off. The team in tough and show
plenty of heart, but they are just too young and inexperienced to overtake a
Spurs team with championship pedigree.
#2 Oklahoma City Thunder VS #7 Dallas Mavericks
(Regular Season: 3-1 Thunder)
Series
Preview: The Oklahoma City Thunder look to
exorcise demons of playoff past in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference
Finals against the defending World Champion Dallas Mavericks.
For the Thunder this is the first playoffs where
they aren’t simply a good story. They are now a team with championship expectations.
Small forward Kevin Durant finished the season winning the scoring title for
the third year in a row. Durant averaged 28 points, 3.5 assists, and 8 rebounds,
in a MVP-caliber season. Point guard Russell Westbrook is also coming a season
with a career high 23.6 points average while having 5.5 assists a game, 1.3
below his career average. Power forward Serge Ibaka made his case for Defensive
Player of the Year averaging 3.7 blocks a game and finishing with a season
total of 241 blocks, 109 more than Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee who came
in second. Guard James Harden is having his best season coming off the bench
averaging 16.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game, all career highs
for Harden.
For the Mavericks it has been an up-&-down
season as defending champions. In letting key pieces to their title winning
team (center Tyson Chandler, point guard JJ Berea, and forward DeShawn
Stevenson) leave in free agency the Mavs made a move to focus cap space for the
future. Replacing these pieces with shooting guard Vince Carter, shooting guard
Delonte West, and power forward Brendan Wright, while having good stretches,
has produced inconsistent results. Power forward and franchise player Dirk
Nowitzski had to carry the team on his back for much of the season while
averaging 21.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks per game, all below his
career average. Point guard Jason Kidd is showing signs of age this season
averaging 6.2 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game. This is also the
first season in his career where he failed to average a triple double.
Impact Player
of the Series: Russell Westbrook
Westbrook has the athleticism to lead the Thunder to
victory on any given night. Unfortunately he also has the ability to shoot his
team out of a game on any given night as well. The way that he approaches this
series will dictate the flow of the series on both ends of the floor including
a key matchup between Mavs small forward Shawn Marion and Durant.
Prediction:
Thunder wins series 4-2
A lot has changed since their last playoff match;
almost all of the changes have been in favor of the Thunder. Last year’s playoffs
tested their mettle and now they the chance to prove why many analysts have
them coming out of the West.
The Mavs on the other hand may be looking past this season
already. In freeing up so much cap space they have possibly sacrificed hopes of
repeating as champions to go after native Texan Deron Williams.
#3 Los Angeles Lakers VS #6 Denver Nuggets (Regular
Season: 3-1 Lakers)
Season Preview:
The Los Angeles Lakers, without Metta World Peace,
looks to make a dark-horse title run against an athletic Denver Nuggets team looking
to make their own surprise run.
For the Lakers it has been a season of changes. New
head coach Mike Brown implementing his own offense, trading key player Lamar
Odom to Dallas for a bag of magic beans, and even having their stranglehold on
the LA fan base be legitimately challenged by the Clippers for the first time.
One thing that hasn’t changed though is the production of shooting guard and
franchise player Kobe Bryant. In a season where many expected for his body to
show signs of fatigue Bryant has played to his career numbers averaging 27.9
points, 4.6 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game. The twin towers of power
forward Pau Gasol and center Andrew Bynum have also played well. Bynum in
particular has had a career year averaging 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds and
1.9 blocks per game and finally starting to live up to the hype that made the
Lakers draft him out of high school.
For the Nuggets, this is their first full season in
the post-Carmelo Anthony era. They made changes to their roster in trading
point guard Raymond Felton to Portland in exchange for point guard Andre
Miller, trading for shooting guard Rudy Fernandez, and even trading center Nene
to Washington in exchange for center JaVale McGee at the trade deadline. While
all this was happening the team proved to be the highest scoring one in the
league averaging 104.1 points per game. Small forward Danilo Gallinari, their
main acquisition from trading Carmelo last season, has played well this season
averaging 14.6 points, 2.7 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game. Point guard Ty
Lawson is having a career year averaging 16.4 points, 6.6 assists, and 3.7
rebounds per game. The big surprise though has been rookie forward Kenneth
Faried. After not initially getting playing time at the start of the season
Faried has played his way to the starting lineup averaging 10.2 points and 7.7
rebounds with an intensity that earned him the nickname ‘Manimal’ and made him
a fan favorite.
Impact Player
of the Series: Ty Lawson
The Nuggets put a lot of pressure on Lawson in
giving him the keys to their offense after sending Chauncey Billups to New York
as part of the Carmelo Anthony trade last season. He has lived up to their
expectations. If Lawson can aggressively attack the basket he can help exploit
the gap left by the suspension of Lakers forward Metta World Peace. Lawson can
also use his playoff experience in his matchup with his Lakers counterpart Ramon
Sessions.
Prediction:
Lakers win series 4-2
The Lakers will miss the defense and production of
World Peace. However with Bryant focused on tying his idol Michael Jordan along
with the unique problems that Bynum and Gasol present it will prove to be too
much.
This is where the Nuggets will miss Nene’s size in
the middle. McGee is still trying to fully integrate himself to their offense.
Couple that with the size he gives up to Bynum and the reluctance of head coach
George Karl to use center Timofey Mozgov and the result will be a Lakers
victory.
#4 Memphis Grizzlies VS #5 Los Angeles Clippers
(Regular Season: 2-1 Clippers)
Series
Preview: The Memphis Grizzlies look to prove last
year’s playoff run was no fluke against a Los Angeles Clippers team looking to
make their own run for the championship and for LA’s soul.
For the Grizzlies this season was one long test to
prove that were as good as they looked in last year’s playoffs. That test
proved longer when power forward Zach Randolph went down to injury. They held
steady though thanks to having small forward Rudy Gay back in the lineup
averaging 19 points, 2.3 assists, and 6.4 rebounds per game this season. Center
Marc Gasol continued to improve his game averaging 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds,
and 1.9 blocks per game, earning him an All-Star spot ahead of his brother Pau.
The late addition of point guard Gilbert Arenas proved to be a welcome addition
to the team and helped stabilize the position for the team.
For the Clippers this is the first time that they
have flirted with playoff and championship relevancy. The team had a young core
built around power forward Blake Griffin, yet felt like other Clipper cores not
meant to last. That changed the moment they traded for point guard Chris Paul
and claimed shooting guard Chauncey Billups from the amnesty waiver wires.
Those moves made them instant playoff contenders. Paul finished an MVP-type season
averaging 19.8 points, 9.1 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. Griffin
continued to posterize unsuspecting defenders while averaging 20.7 points, 10.9
rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game. Small forward Caron Butler, a free agent
signing, has had an up-&-down season coming off of knee surgery and has
posted career lows.
Impact Player
of the Series: Zach Randolph
If you saw his performance against the Orlando Magic
in the regular season finale for the Grizzlies, you saw a man that feels he has
something to prove. Randolph will need that intensity as he’s matched up
against Griffin in this series. If he can contain Griffin and produce
offensively in what looks like a close series that frees up Gay and Gasol to
play inside.
Prediction:
Grizzlies win series 4-3
This series is technically a toss-up, but the
Grizzlies have home court and that may be what decides this. Now that they are
at full strength with Randolph likely to return to the starting lineup the
Grizzlies could out grind the Clippers.
Like I said before though, this series is
technically a toss-up, so it would be no surprise if the Clippers pull it off.
Paul almost beat the Lakers by himself last year with a New Orleans Hornets
team that had far less talent than the Clippers.
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