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At long last, the NBA playoff matchups are set in stone, and as always, the Western Conference figures to hit the ground running with the better entertainment.
All four West first-round matches should provide excellent entertainment, and it would be especially surprising if the 4-5 matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies proved an exception.
With that series kicking off Saturday night at Staples Center in LA, here are five issues to be mindful of once the ball is jumped.
This week marks the final edition of our Sixth Man Rankings, and we have a winner.
While major alterations to the list have been made throughout this process, the race ultimately has come down to two players on opposite sides of the country: Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford and New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith.
Both players are in their first full season with their teams and both were able to add a bench scoring dimension to which neither team had previously been accustomed.
This East Coast vs. West Coast battle picked up its heaviest bit of steam towards the tail end of the season – and is where our decision became a bit easier.
With Derrick Rose having missed the entire season while recovering from microfracture surgery and Kirk Hinrich constantly in and out of the lineup with various injuries, someone had to step up at the point for the Chicago Bulls. Good or bad, they desperately needed someone to make plays from the perimeter, and their answer for much of the season has been little Nate Robinson.
Lets talk about the Golden State Warriors.
How many people, before the season began, thought that this team could make the playoffs without a healthy Andrew Bogut anchoring its defense? If the number reads more than zero, then we have some liars in our hands because lets face it: no one thought that the Warriors would be good enough in the Western Conference if they couldn’t play defense. Without Bogut’s availability, there was no reason to assume that they would suddenly be able to get stops with a core of Stephen Curry, David Lee, Klay Thompson and a couple of rookies in the starting lineup.
Yet, that’s what happened in the first half of the season. They defended and rebounded the way winning teams would. Maybe it was fluke, because as the season went on, it all reverted back to past years, as they allowed anyone and everyone to shoot freely and attack the rim at will. They limped into the All-Star break with a five-game losing streak, and lost 10-of-13 games to fall back in the standings. It was hard-pressed to find a team that played worse defense in the second half of the season than the Warriors.
The NBA is dark tonight. All eyes will be on Atlanta, where Louisville and Michigan will play for the NCAA national championship.
So this gives us time to reflect …
With 10 days remaining in the regular season, what are the 10 biggest unanswered questions from around the league?
