However, seven of the eight playoff teams in the West (a group we can identify with virtually dead certainty after Memphis' loss in Milwaukee last night; while still mathematically alive, the Grizzlies' Playoff Odds stand at 0.1 percent as of today) have experienced a systemic jolt in the past several days large enough that it could cause us to re-evaluate their prospects going forward. While none are of the cataclysmic variety, I reiterate that we're dealing with miniscule differences heading into the Western Conference playoffs: Six teams stand within three points of each other in today's Power Rankings. In that environment, a little change can lead to a lot of outcome. And it's especially true when nearly all the changes for the top teams have been negative, and nearly all the changes to the bottom teams have been positive. At times one wonders where we'd finish with an eight-way tie for first if the season lasted long enough. And so today, we're going to take a field trip into unvarnished subjectivity. Let's take a look at what's been different lately for all eight Western Conference playoff teams, and why that's cause to re-evaluate their playoff hopes: Portland: Marcus Camby and Nicolas Batum With all the tumult over other trade-deadline upgrades, I'm amazed Portland's didn't get more attention. The Blazers traded a redundant backup point guard (Steve Blake) and a forward who had played 11 games (Travis Outlaw) for a quality starting center (Camby). Everyone understood that part, but the piece that was basically ignored was that Batum returned from injury at the same time. Now that everyone has acclimated, Portland is gaining speed. The Blazers are 11-2 since the end of February, with one of the losses coming in a game Camby missed in Denver. Suffice it to say he's a bit of an upgrade over Juwan Howard and Dante Cunningham. Meanwhile, Batum has been even better than anticipated: He's eighth among small forwards in PER and notably more potent offensively than in his rookie year, upgrading another position in which the Blazers had been getting limited production. Portland has pulled even with Oklahoma City and San Antonio as a result, and could go higher still. If the Blazers win their last four home games and road contests against the Clippers and Kings they'll finish with 51 wins, which could lift them as high as fifth in the Western playoff seedings. *edited*
51 wins would be unbelievable given what this team has gone through. Imagine if BRoy hadn't missed all that time.
What amazes me is that many of us here didn't think we'd break 50 during pre-season... none of us thought all those injuries would happen!
