Western Conference First Round Preview

Seven teams finished with at least 50 wins this season and the only team that didn't, the Dallas Mavericks 49-33, would have been good enough for third in the East.  It is a conference that has been very competitive and tough to tell who its best team really is.  Some say its the Clippers, others OKC, and usually people just sleep on the team that always ends up being there, the San Antonio Spurs.  The one thing I do know about these first round match up's is that no one knows for sure who is going to come out of this conference.  So without further or do, here is your preview of the West first round match ups.

#8 Dallas Mavericks v.s. #1 San Antonio Spurs

Losing in heart breaking fashion in the NBA Finals was hard for the San Antonio Spurs to deal with, but now they are back.  The team that everyone always overlooks is back where they always seem to be, on top of the Western Conference.  They have the same core group from last year and they actually added a key bench player from Chicago in Marco Belinelli.  As for the Mavericks, they had to claw their way into the playoffs and fight off the Phoenix Suns for the last spot.  Led by Dirk Nowitzki, and Monta Ellis the Mavericks are ready to present a serious challenge to San Antonio.  The great thing about both of these teams is they play great team basketball and it will be interesting to see how they match up.  Covering Tony Parker will be a challenge for Jose Calderon and Devin Harris of Dallas.  The Spurs come into the postseason playing their best basketball of the season and they don't do it with one guy, its a very balanced scoring attack.  Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, and Boris Diaw have fit into their roles quite nicely and they seem to be poised for a deep playoff run.  I don't expect Dallas to be a serious test to the Spurs as their depth, shooting, and skill will prove to be too much for a thin Mavericks line up.  

My Prediction: Spurs win series 4-1 


#5 Portland Trail Blazers v.s. #4 Houston Rockets 

There is a lot of pressure on the Houston Rockets to go far in this year's playoffs.  If you look at it, Dwight Howard is always criticized for not being able to get it done in the post season and the same can be said for James Harden.  Both of these teams went through many ups and downs for the year and they find themselves facing each other in a series that appears to be even.  Star power is in favor of the Rockets, but Portland might have the better starting 5.  Its one of the best in the league and they are all very efficient led by LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard along with Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, and Robin Lopez.  Bench scoring is an advantage for Houston as they have Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and Omri Casspi who are all very productive.  My favorite match up to watch out for comes at small forward with Chandler Parsons and Nicolas Batum.  Both players are 3-point shooters who can do other things offensively as well which makes them tough covers.  Expect a very high scoring series because both teams can put up a lot of points.  In the end, having home court and being a little bit deeper really helps Houston in this one.  It also helps to have probably the two best players in this series on your team in Howard and Harden.

My Prediction: Rockets win series 4-2

#6 Golden State Warriors v.s. #3 Los Angeles Clippers

No words can describe how fun this series is going to be.  Lob City v.s. the Splash Brothers. CP3 v.s. Steph Curry is definitely the matchup to watch in this one because they will have the ball in their hands most of the time.  This has the potential to be the highest scoring series because both teams average over 104 points/per game.  Blake Griffin has stepped his game up as of late and it will take a group effort from Golden State to stop him.  With center Andrew Bogut out for this series, David Lee and Draymond Green will need to step in and be affective.  It's going to be tough for the Warriors to keep pace as Los Angeles is probably the deepest team in the league. Their new additions that come off the bench include Hedo Turkoglu, Danny Granger, Glen Davis, and Darren Collison. That's not even including Jamal Crawford who is one of the best Sixth men in the league.  The Warriors will rely heavily on their starting line-up, especially Curry, Thompson, and Iguodala.  Last year, the Clippers failed in the first round and got a lot of criticism for it.  I don't see the same thing happening this year, expect Golden State to make it an interesting series but for the Clippers to end up on top.  

My Prediction: Clippers win series 4-2

#7 Memphis Grizzlies v.s. #2 Oklahoma City Thunder

Let it be known that Memphis is not the team the Thunder were hoping to play in the first round.  Last year in the West semi-finals, Memphis took care of an OKC team minus Russell Westbrook in just five games.  The physicality of the Grizzlies clearly affected the Thunder and I expect much of the same this time.  Kevin Durant is playing at a very high level right now and it looks like he is going to win the MVP trophy.  Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol will match up against Serge Ibaka down low while Mike Conley will go against Russell Westbrook.  It's going to be a series of pace since OKC wants to get up and down scoring a ton of points while Memphis would rather have the game be played in the 80s.  I expect the home team to win a majority of these games and for Memphis to make things really difficult for the Thunder.  However, I do expect the Thunder to come through and win this series. 

My Prediction: Thunder win series 4-3