Western Conference Second Round Playoff Preview

The Western Conference is wide open this year. Out are the champion Dallas Mavericks and the darkhorse Memphis Grizzlies. Just two L.A. teams, an up-and-coming superpower, and the old guard remain.

San Antonio Spurs (1) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (5)

Two of the best ever from Wake Forest.

The Clippers have youth, size, and the best player on the floor in Chris Paul. In some ways, it appears the Clippers are the perfect team for the job of taking the number one seed out. San Antonio is older, slower, and smaller. Feast on the offensive glass and exceed Tony Parker's production with CP3's, and you have yourself an upset.

But it's not that simple. The Spurs have superior health, home-court advantage, and, to put it nicely, a significant edge at head coach. They also have 3-point shooting. San Antonio ranked first in the NBA in 3-point percentage this season and continued hitting from deep against Utah at a 40.7 percent clip. The Clippers, nearly last in the league at defending the 3-point line during the regular season, closed out on Memphis well, but Memphis's weakness is shooting 3's, whereas it's a strength for the Spurs. The Clippers don't have the size or the consistent smarts to defend San Antonio's spread-floor offense.

With that spacing, Parker and Manu Ginobili will carve San Antonio up. The only way the Clippers contend with that duo is if Eric Bledsoe plays like he did in game 7 against Memphis. Tim Duncan should also get his on the green DeAndre Jordan, who will likely be in foul trouble for much of the series.

The best thing L.A. has going is Blake Griffin will likely put up better numbers than the 18 points and 6.4 rebounds he did against Zach Randolph. His production and offensive rebounding, as well as Kenyon Martin's and Reggie Evans's ability to drag the Spurs to hell, will keep this series close. Chris Paul will dominate as per usual.

The series will be close, but the Spurs have too many built-in advantages going in.


Pick: Spurs in 6


Oklahoma City Thunder (2) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (3)

The Western Conference matchup everybody wanted to see. After the Thunder thrashed the team that trounced them a year ago, they get their revenge match against the Lakers, who bounced them from the playoffs two years ago.

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant are two of the league's best pure scorers.

Derek Fisher vs. Kobe Bryant. Metta World Peace vs. James Harden. Kendrick Perkins vs. Pau Gasol, whom he's had words with in the media, and Andrew Bynum, whom he battled in the 2010 NBA Finals. Oh, and there's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, too.

World Peace locked down Durantula two years ago, but World Peace was Ron Artest and Durantula was a young scorer in his first playoff series. Durant is now a seasoned 3-time scoring champ with experience in the Western Conference Finals. He won't go off for 40 each game, but he'll be a consistent scoring presence.

Westbrook and Harden will determine the series for OKC. If they can effectively do what Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari could not- that is, initiate plays in the halfcourt and score efficiently with the clock winding down- then the Thunder offense will be lethal enough to win. Bryant has slowed Westbrook in the past, but not this version of Westbrook. How does L.A. defend OKC when they put Harden, Durant, and Westbrook on the court? That was Dallas's issue, and Jason Terry got torched. Can Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake do any better?

Gasol will likely dominate Serge Ibaka, who is a poor post defender. Bynum's offense is the bigger variable; L.A. is at its best when Bynum is scoring efficiently and the Lakers get to defend in the half-court. OKC will destroy them if they get in transition, so L.A. needs to create space for both 7-footers to go to work.

In the end, OKC's fast, tall perimeter double teams will likely make entry-passes too difficult, and Bryant will need to take a lot of shots. Bryant is an amazing player, but it's too much to ask to cover up all of his team's flaws at his age against a young Thunder team.

This series will end in five, but it won't feel easy. This will be a great matchup.


Pick: Thunder in 5

The Resurrection of Chris Paul

Four seasons ago, Chris Paul finished second in MVP voting. He was coming off a historic regular season, and he followed that historic season with a magical- well, Magic-like, actually- playoffs. Not since Earvin Johnson himself had a point guard combined such flawless playmaking with the ability to volume score on ridiculous efficiency. Smaller package, but similar results.

Yeah Steve, he passed right by you.

However, CP3 has been overlooked ever since those 2008 playoffs. The season after was marred by injury, and the New Orleans Hornets weren't the same thereafter. Furthermore, several other perimeter superstars either emerged or had their situations radically shifted for the better. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade hooked up in South Beach. Kobe Bryant received two more rings. Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook brought uber-athletic ability to Paul's position while still remaining smart enough to handle an NBA offense.

And Chris was put on the back burner, a player in basketball exile waiting to be moved, waiting to have his "Decision" summer.

Thankfully it came early when he was traded to L.A. And then it didn't when the trade was rescinded. And then it did again, to a different team in the City of Angels.

And thus, the public perception of Paul has ascended once again to acceptable levels. He still probably doesn't get the respect he deserves, but at least people are recognizing him again. Paul should be on the All-NBA First Team this year along with Westbrook (Wade and Rose have all missed more time), and he should be in the running for MVP as well. He is the best player on a high-level team, and he has assumed a large load on that team, especially since the season-ending injury to veteran Chauncey Billups.

Paul is leading the third-best offense in the NBA and orchestrates "Lob City" as the true mayor in town. Blake Griffin may get the highlights, but it's usually Paul setting him up for those dunks. Paul is averaging 19.4 points and nine assists (with just 2.1 turnovers!) per game while shooting 48.1 percent and 37.3 percent from 3-point range. His ability to handle the ball as much as he does, create the amount of offense he does, and play over 36 minutes per game while only turning the ball over 2.1 times is mind boggling.

When it's crunch time, Paul seemingly always recognizes the situation and takes the game by the throat. According to 82games.com, Paul has the fifth-highest scoring average under its definition of a "clutch situation." He's also tenth in assists and ninth in FTAs while shooting a staggering 95 percent from the charity stripe in "clutch situations."

Perhaps more importantly, he's taught Griffin how to flop at an ALL-NBA level. It's not in the scope of this article to make fish jokes about Clippers and flopping, so do that on your own time.

But Paul is back and on a relevant team with weapons, and if history is any indication, he's going to go bonkers in the playoffs. He's arguably the second-best player in the league, and he's on a mission to prove it to NBA fans.

The NBA's Top Five Up-and-Coming Duos #1: Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon

Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon might only be the second-best sg/pf combo in the City of Angels, but they're quickly turning Clipper Land into a passable purgatory.

Building around Griffin and Gordon, and Los Angeles Clippers are hoping to eschew from the shadows of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the Los Angeles Lakers this decade.  Although accomplishing the task won't be as effortless as sitting down and watching an awesome Blake Griffin video (that video intro wrote itself), probability is on their side after all these years of futility.

Eric Gordon, left, and Blake Griffin are the future of the Clippers. 

Griffin's dominance was felt immediately during a historic rookie year filled with power dunks and demonstrative rebounds. He averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and an especially impressive 3.8 assists per game while shooting over 50 percent from the field and drawing tons of fouls with a surprisingly effective back-to-the-basket low-post game.  He cost himself points by missing free throws (64.2 percent made), but he's got a fervent desire to improve.  Karl Malone, a legendary gym rat and self-improver, shot under 60 percent from the free throw line in his first two seasons and finished a career 74.2 percent free throw shooter.

Gordon has arrived with a bit more subtly than his teammate, but going forward, he'll be just as important to L.A.  When EG played last season, the Clippers were 25-31; without him, they were 7-19.  The efficient 22 ppg scorer can shoot the 3-ball (36.4 percent), which spreads the floor for Griffin.  Not content with hanging around the perimeter, he was also adept at taking the ball to the basket and getting to the line.  An underrated ball-handler and playmaker, he averaged 4.4 dimes per game last year as well.  He can play off or on the ball.   

Griffin and Gordon project to be a duo capable of handling the offensive duties of a Western contender.  Currently, Gordon plays solid defense; Griffin plays rookie-game defense, though he's tough on the defensive glass.  Both should morph into solid defensive pieces, and if DeAndre Jordan works on his defense and becomes an interior suppressor, L.A. could have a solid defensive core as well.

The 2012 season- if it ever gets off the ground- could very well be the coming-out party for Griffin and Gordon as leaders of a playoff team.  The two ascending clippers- the dynamic duo of L.A.'s Clippers- the best young pair in the NBA.