The Western Conference playoffs are set up perfectly
This wonderful world that is the 2014 NBA Western Conference playoffs almost wasn't to be.
It took a 21-point fourth quarter from likely MVP Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the regular-season finale Wednesday to give his team the No. 2 seed and thereby create the no-love-lost Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors first-round matchup (No. 3 seed vs. No. 6) that we all wanted to see. Minutes later, the Memphis Grizzlies survived in overtime against the Dallas Mavericks and thus avoided a likely dud of a matchup against a San Antonio Spurs team that has beaten them in 14 of their last 16 meetings.
Instead, the basketball-loving audience gets treated to a Thunder-Grizzlies affair (No. 2 vs. No. 7) that has all the right characters for compelling hoops theater and features a Memphis team that has the league's third-best winning percentage since Jan. 1 (.712, with a 37-15 record). Now add in the oldie-but-goodie duel between the Spurs' Tim Duncan and the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, and the Houston Rockets-Portland Trail Blazers series that is as tough to predict as any, and it's safe to say the NBA's playoff business is booming on this side of the league's aisle.
There was no better sign of the West's wide-open nature and impressive quality of play than a prediction made Thursday by ESPN analyst and former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. He's picking the Rockets to win it all — not the two-time defending champion Miami Heat or the much-improved Indiana Pacers or any of the three teams in the West that finished the season above the Rockets (Spurs, Thunder, Clippers), but the Houston team that is in its first season with big man Dwight Howard and surely has the talent to win it all.
"They play fast, they score easily, they have a talent in (shooting guard) James Harden who's as hard to guard as anybody not named Durant or LeBron James," Van Gundy said. "They've got a center (Howard) who gives them a force in the paint to protect the rim, to rebound and score around the basket, and then they've got one of the most unique competitors in (point guard) Patrick Beverley. who just — I love his mentality to attack each and every opponent and go after them. ... I think Houston has got as good a chance as anybody to come out of the West."
That would be welcome news for Dwight Howard, who is four years removed from his lone Finals appearance (with the Orlando Magic) and would love nothing more than to take the James' proven path to improved public relations by hoisting his first championship trophy. This is the time where legacies are made, of course, and Howard isn't alone on that front.
For all the well-deserved praise given to Clippers point guard Chris Paul in recent years, his teams in New Orleans and Los Angeles have never survived past the second round and have been defeated in the first round three times. This is his best opportunity yet to win it all, as coach Doc Rivers left his Boston Celtics loyalists behind last summer to embrace this opportunity and the group around Paul that includes the dynamic Blake Griffin has never been better.
"(Rivers) went to Chris Paul and said, 'You're considered one of the best point guards in the league, but you've never been out of the second round,' " former player and NBA TV analyst Dennis Scott said. "He went to Blake Griffin and said, 'You're one of our best young stars, and people are beating you up. Instead of retaliating, go to the line and make your free throws.' So now you see Chris Paul and Blake Griffin playing a better brand of basketball. Each and every guy has stepped up to Doc's challenge. That's why the Clippers have gotten better."
Losing to the Warriors would be a major upset at this point, what with Golden State center Andrew Bogut out with a fractured rib and Mark Jackson's coaching staff in perceived disarray after he demoted one assistant coach and another was released for undisclosed reasons. Still, anything is possible when there's so much parity in play, especially when emotions run high like they so often have between these two teams.
The teams split four regular-season games, including a Halloween matchup in which Warriors players said the Clippers broke league-wide protocol by kicking them out of pregame chapel. Paul later explained that the Clippers simply implemented their playoff practices early (no shared chapel), but the silliness symbolized the extent of this growing rivalry. Golden State guard Klay Thompson got the bad blood boiling again this week, telling San Francisco radio station state 95.7 The Game that Clippers forward Blake Griffin is sometimes "out of control" and a "bull in a china shop" while questioning how often he allegedly flops.
"I give the Warriors a chance because of the rivalry between the two teams," TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Reggie Miller said. "They hate each other. Any time you hate a team, you can throw out who's hurt and who's not playing, because it becomes personal. We're going to see a lot of hard fouls in this series. (Warriors forward) David Lee and Blake Griffin can't stand each other, and I love it."
Even after the first round, the West lineup looks likely to be a long and worthwhile experience. There have been rumblings all season that Duncan might retire in the offseason, adding meaning to the latest Spurs run as they attempt to avenge a 2013 Finals loss. Yet should they come across the Thunder in the conference final, the recent evidence would be against them considering Oklahoma City swept them in four meetings this season.
The wild, wild West indeed.
