Gaze into your crystal ball, examine the tea leaves, and prepare to play... The Fifth Annual Western Conference Prediction Game! This is how it works, for those who did not play the last 4 years: You, between now and midnight, the night before the NBA season (finally!) begins, list your top 8 Western Conference teams, by record, not seed. It is not necessary to motivate your choices, just list them. I put all the entries into a spreadsheet. Then, we wait until April. The person whose prediction is closest to the actual top 8 teams wins. There IS a prize. Disclaimer: the contest is solely the creation of yours truly and is not affiliated with the Blazers, the Oregonian, ESPN board, Weatherman, or any other entity.
Hornets 58-24 Rockets 56-26 Lakers 56-26 Jazz 54-28 Spurs 53-29 Blazers 51-31 Mavericks 50-32 Suns 49-33
Lakers 57-25 Hornets 56-26 Jazz 54-28 Rockets 53-29 Blazers 52-30 Spurs 50-32 Suns 49-33 Mavericks 48-34
L*kers 60-22 Blazers 58-24 Hornets 56-26 Rockets 55-27 Jazz 53-29 Spurs 47-35 Dallas 46-36 Phoenix 44-38 I could be way low on Phoenix. I think the rest are close.
