Best Series of the First Round Continues Tonight

Tonight two sub-par series resume, and a series worth watching every minute continues. In San Antonio the Spurs and Clippers will battle for control of the series, after splitting the first two games in Los Angeles. The Athleticism of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan was too much for the rusty Spurs on Sunday night, but come Wednesday the Spurs put on a vintage road performance led by their future hall of fame power forward Tim Duncan. Duncan scored 28 points including clutch baskets in overtime helping San Antonio tie the series. Clippers star Blake Griffin was tremendous once again posting a triple double, but made a few errors down the stretch including a turnover late in regulation that led to the game tying free throws. Tonight's game is important for the Clippers, because they have yet to prove themselves as road warriors when it comes to the playoffs. We all know the Spurs can win a game 7 on the road, we've seen it before. Game 2 was bigger for the Clippers, because it gave home court advantage to San Antonio. If the Clippers go down 2-1 with a game four on the road, I don't love their chances in the series. Now, that does not mean they can't do it. This Clippers team is very good, but their stars have yet to prove it on the biggest stage, against the biggest opponent, a team that has dominated the better part of the past 15 years. Everyone has been talking about how bad the Clippers bench is, besides Jamaal Crawford. I think the bigger issue for the Clippers is that Tony Parker has been awful. Parker is questionable tonight, but if he starts to play anywhere near 100% look out Clipper fans. I think this series is headed for a game 7, but it is way closer to becoming a comfortable series win for the Spurs than it is for the Clippers. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul cannot afford any sort of set back on the road, they must continue their elite play if they want to give their team a chance.

The Spurs May Be Poised For Another Run

The NBA playoffs begin tomorrow afternoon with the Washington Wizards visiting the Toronto Raptors. That series along with the entire first round should be very entertaining, with so many great match-ups. Most will be in the western conference, but the east should provide some excitement as well. The series everyone seems to be most interested in is that between the Los Angeles Clippers and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs thought they might grab the second seed, but instead lost on the last night of the regular season and ended up with the six spot. This is not a great situation for the Spurs, not having home court advantage at all during these playoffs, but not the end of the world. As we all know this team can beat any team in any place. If they are to win three straight series on the road and advance to a third straight NBA finals, it will take maybe an even better team performance than last year.
20 years ago a team was in the exact same situation as these Spurs. The team had not been in the playoffs for 18 straight years and already have five titles, but that year had been very similar. The Houston Rockets limped into the playoffs as the number six seed in the conference. Just the season before, the Rockets had defeated the New York Knicks in seven gams to capture the NBA chmapionship. The team, led by hall of famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Cylde Drexler, started off by beating the third seeded Utah Jazz, who had a great point guard power forward combo in John Stockton and Karl Malone (remind you of a certain duo in LA?). In the second round the team had to battle to defeat a strong Phoenix Suns team led by the great individual play of Charles Barkley (perhaps James Harden's Houston Rockets?).
Then came the conference finals, where the team took on the league MVP and the team with the best record in the NBA. The 1995 Rockets played the 1995 San Antonio Spurs (in case this is confusing), who had thrived all season behind the incredible play of their MVP David Robinson (similar to Golden State and Stephen Curry this year). The Rockets beat the Spurs and went on to sweep the Orlando Magic in the finals, and claim the teams second straight title.
This situation for the Spurs is potentially so similar to that Rockets team, if all the the right things happen. I still believe that the Warriors will come out of the West, but there is no way I would be surprised if the Spurs ended up back in the finals.

NBA Playoffs Are Around the Corner

The final four is a little less than 24 hours away from us, and as excited as I am for the weekends games, the anticipation is making me even more excited for the upcoming NBA playoffs. We are just two short weeks away from the beginning of the postseason, and there are a lot reasons to be excited.
One reason is the playoff intensity and atmosphere. Plenty of teams have great fans who show support every game, but even the teams who don't have the best regular season support always have fans come out for the playoffs. While the Warriors are perhaps the standard for the loudest and most energetic crowds in the league, there are many other great ones. The Memphis Grizzlies always have great support in the postseason, as well as the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs. Toronto is another great one, we all got to see it firsthand in last years playoffs when the entire country of Canada seemed to show up to each of the teams four playoff games it hosted. The crowd I'm most interested to watch is that of the Cleveland Cavaliers. With LeBron back in Cleveland, these will be his first home playoff games as a Cavalier since 2010, when his team got knocked out by the Boston Celtics.

Western Conference Contenders

Funny how a conference like the west is considered so deep and so good, yet when you really consider what teams can make a run to the finals, the list is short. As of now, because of so many injuries to so many key players, I can say that there are three contenders. The Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. These teams are experienced (especially the Spurs), and deep teams who play well and as a team on both ends of the floor. Come May the western conference finals will feature two of these teams.

Clippers Playoff Hopes

The Los Angeles Clippers have been playing very well of late, thanks in large part to point guard Chris Paul. Paul has led a team missing one of its best players, Blake Griffin, to an impressive record. The team is currently number one in offensive efficiency, and clicking on all cylinders. I still do not trust this team come playoff time. Even if Griffin is healthy I don't think this team is tough enough on the defensive end, and I believe they do not match up well against the best teams in the west (Golden State, Memphis, and San Antonio). We will see come April, but right now I see this team as a first round exit squad, maybe second round.

Spurs Creeping Up

The San Antonio Spurs are quietly just a game and a half behind the five seed Clippers in the west. The team that has been to back to back NBA Finals has struggled to really get going this season, but with around 20 games to go, they may be hitting their stride at just the right time. A game and a half is nothing in the loaded west, where the top teams seem to beat up on each other. So, its not so far fetched to see the Spurs getting to that five seed and even grabbing home court advantage if Houston or Portland start to slip a bit. It will be interesting to see, but if the Spurs go into the playoffs red hot and with home court in the first round? Look out Golden State...the Spurs know how to win come playoff time.

Where are the Best Teams in the NBA?

Here we are, around the mid-way point of the NBA season, and still waiting for some of the premier teams in the league to get going. The list of these teams is relatively short for me. Two teams in the east and two in the west. First are the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team just recently got LeBron James back from injury, and are waiting for Iman Shumpert to come back from an injury. A win last night against the Chicago Bulls could get this team going on a run. The Bulls are the other team in the east that I find myself waiting for. Chicago is doing better than Cleveland, but in the last two weeks has been struggling. Right now sitting in the fourth seed, the team would like to finish with the one or two seed, but being healthy come playoff time is most important. 

In the west the two obvious teams are the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are still currently out of the playoffs, while the Spurs have just not been as dominant, sitting in the seventh spot. While the Thunder need to simply focus on even making the playoffs, each of these teams need to step their games up. The only team with a free pass is probably the Spurs. Just because of the teams recent history, and the fact that home court advantage does not really matter to the team. Going forward, even if it is just for my personal enjoyment, I hope these teams begin to play as well as they are capable.

Besides San Antonio Who Are the Title Contenders in the NBA?

While it is still just 10 games into the season for most NBA teams, last nights Spurs-Cavs game was an early season signature game. San Antonio, of course, is coming off a season in which they led the league in wins and went on to win the championship. That championship run concluded by dispatching the then LeBron James-led Miami Heat. Cleveland, however, is a team yet to find itself. It of course has a star studded cast led by the return of LeBron, and the all-star play of both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

These two teams played an exciting game resulting in a close 92-90 Spurs win. The Spurs are still contenders to win the title, and should still be favorites. The rest of the league is sort of up for grabs at this point. Cleveland should definitely be in the discussion in the east, but the lack of a defense is concerning. You would be a fool to pick that defense against any Western conference opponent. Chicago is in a similar position as Cleveland, but for a completely different reason.

The Bulls have a great defense. Since Tom Thibodeau took over as head coach that has been the case. The concern in Chicago is the uncertainty of Derrick Rose's health. While he has played well, he has not been on the court enough. He has not suffered another terrible injury, but has missed plenty of time with nagging injuries. How much will that effect a potential deep playoff run? Will he need to sit a game in the Eastern conference finals?

The rest of the east consists of a couple more very good teams in the Raptors and the Wizards. However, I am not ready to call those two true title contenders.

The West is tricky. Houston has gotten off to such a great start, but I still find it difficult to see a team with only James Harden as a true dynamic offense threat as a contender. Houston's offense is potent when they are hitting the three ball, but at the end of games Harden is the only player they can go to. Memphis is a little higher on my list, because of the elite defense and post play. Mike Conley is still an underrated point guard in the loaded west.

Golden State has replaced Oklahoma City for now as that potentially great contender in the west. The star power of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in backcourt, along with an elite front line of Bougt and the return of David Lee. The bench play is also elite. Led by players like Barnes, Iguodala, Livingston, Barbosa and Green. Now if Westbrook and Durant are able to return to top 5 form and lead the Thunder to the playoffs, the conference could be in for a huge shakeup.

Dallas, Portland and the Clippers round out the conference contenders, but as far as NBA title goes there is still much room for improvement. Mostly on the defensive end.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that both conferences (especially the west) are wide open. No one should be doubting the Spurs at this point of the season though. This could be the last season for both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, and what better way to end their careers than with another championship. If I had to put money on it today, it would be on the Spurs.