so little seperates seed 2 from seed 8 in the West. Denver, Dallas, and Utah aren't THAT much better than Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio, and OKC. I see this year's first round in the west as being a damn WAR... several 7 game series and a couple of upsets. Other than the Lakers, the rest of the West is WIDE FREAKIN' OPEN. And I don't think this year's Lakers are all that great either, compared to years past. Can't wait for this year's playoffs.
I definitely won't be surprised if some of the lower seeded teams pull an "upset" and win their series in the West.
It is strange how Utah, Phoenix, Denver and Dallas are considered to be having great seasons. Yet, they're at most, 4 games ahead of the 8th seed. They're closer to the 8th seed, than they are to the 1st seed. It's also funny how OKC is said to be having a great season (and arguably, they are), yet they've lost 2 fewer games than Portland and haven't had near the injuries that we've had. I think it speaks volumes about how good the team is (and how even the west is) that missing Greg and Joel for most of the season, Brandon for 15 games, and Rudy for 20 games and Batum for 40+ games and Travis (until he was traded) for something like 50 games..and they're still 4 games from being the 2nd seed in the Western Conference. The only series that would be an "upset" in the 1st round this year is the 1-8 matchup. The other matchups are basically equal teams.
It's gonna be intense. We're gonna have to bring our A game on both ends. Tonight was a good warm up.
Very True. And I was just about to say they should abolish the conference playoff and take on a top 16 championship, but never-mind the month of April is going to be as crazy as march madness!
Remember when Houston was a a concern? Less than a week ago? Now 7 games back (In the LOSS column) It doesn't take long.
It's pretty crazy to think that the team with all its injuries, could still win 50 games. If that doesn't win Nate COY, nothing will.
Forgetting all of the other injuries, when you look back at just the losses the Blazers had when Roy was out, I think you can say that at least 4 of the losses would be wins if Brandon had played: 92-97 L @ Wash, 95-98 L @ Boston, 97-98 L vs. NO, and 100-104 L @ Houston. If you take those 4 losses away and make them wins, the Blazers would be tied with the Nuggets for 2nd place in the Conference. Whatever team gets the Blazers is going to be facing a much tougher matchup than you'd typically expect in the first round.
