Category: NBA Finals (Page 50 of 58)

Well, the playoffs are set…sort of. There are still some teams jockeying for position, but we now know the 16 teams that will comprise this year’s playoff field.

And the 12th-best team in the league, the Golden State Warriors, will not be playing in the postseason.

We knew this was coming. It has been obvious since the start of the season that a good team from the West was going to miss the playoffs this season. Not only that, but the Portland Trailblazers probably should have made the postseason too.

I suggested this almost a year ago, but what if we threw the conferences out and just seeded the playoffs #1 through #16? Our first round matchups would look like this:

#1 Boston vs. #16 Portland
#8 Phoenix vs. #9 Orlando
#4 New Orleans vs. #13 Cleveland
#5 San Antonio vs. #12 Golden State

#2 Detroit vs. #15 Toronto
#7 Houston vs. #10 Dallas
#3 LA Lakers vs. #14 Washington
#6 Utah vs. #11 Denver

Just look at these storylines: Shaq vs. Dwight Howard, CP3 vs. LeBron, the slow it down Spurs versus the up-tempo Warriors, the Lake St. Clair battle between Detroit and Toronto (separated by just a four-hour drive), the Battle for Texas (Houston vs. Dallas), the Battle in the Mountains (Utah/Denver) and, of course, Kobe facing the team that gave him Kwame Brown.

Potential second-round matchups: Celtics/Suns, Hornets/Spurs, Pistons/Mavs and the Lakers/Jazz. Tell me you’re not going to want to watch as much of that round as possible.

If it were up to me, I’d give the best team in each conference one of the top two seeds, so that would make the Lakers the #2 seed and the Pistons #3.

What do you think? Should we scrap the current system?

The Suns’ decision to trade away Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal raised more than a few eyebrows around the league, but it’s clear that Phoenix did it with the intention of winning now. A healthy (and motivated) Shaq can still shift the balance, especially in the playoffs where he’ll get plenty of rest between games. Last night, the Suns blitzed the Spurs in San Antonio, and Shaq was a big reason why.

ESPN’s Ric Bucher described the game this way:

O’Neal, despite being Shaqled with foul trouble all night, chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds and served as the Big Antidote against Tim Duncan, who needed 21 shots to collect 23 points and had only two in the final 15 minutes. Result: a 96-79 Suns’ win and more woofin’ in the visiting AT&T locker room than has been heard in quite some time. Phoenix is now 2-0 against the Spurs in their Shaq era and, while they fully understand the Spurs are a different animal in the playoffs, they clearly see themselves as a step above the Suns teams San Antonio eliminated from the playoffs three of the past four years.

I didn’t like the trade initially, and I still don’t think it was the right move when looking at the Suns’ long-term prospects. But if Shaq can stay on the court and is playing with energy, he could put Phoenix over the top in the short term.

Whether or not the Suns will face the Spurs in the first two rounds of the playoffs is another matter. Going into tonight’s games, the top six teams are separated by just three games, so a lot could happen over the final few games. The Suns would potentially play the Lakers, Spurs and Hornets in consecutive series – not an easy road.

It looks like the Hornets will be the #1 seed and will face either the Nuggets or the Warriors (probably whomever wins tonight). Dallas looks to be all but a lock for the #7 seed, but the #2-#6 seeds change nightly.

Photos courtesy of Flickr.

I didn’t see this coming.

Houston had won 12 straight when they learned that Yao Ming was going to miss the rest of the season with a fracture in his foot. I figured that was the beginning of the end of the Rockets’ playoff hopes, but the team has since rattled off seven more wins, including victories over Denver, New Orleans and Dallas. The team hasn’t lost since 1/27.

In total, the Rockets have won 23 of their last 24 and 28 of their last 31, so this streak is no fluke. Houston is doing it with defense. According to ESPN’s John Hollinger, they have the league’s second-best defensive efficiency. Offensively, they’re getting good production from Tracy McGrady and a team of role players, anchored by Rafer Alston and Shane Battier.

The Rockets’ streak has kept the pressure on the #4-#9 teams in the West. It’s clear that a good team is going to miss the postseason.

Streaks aside, if Houston can’t get past the first round of the playoffs, the same questions about T-Mac’s postseason toughness will be asked…again.