Wild Western Conference Goes to the Wire

[duncan228]

Wild Western Conference Goes to the Wire
John Walters

Has the West ever been wilder?

The suspects -- Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Utah, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio and Oklahoma -- were all rounded up more than a week ago, but nobody has a clue in what order they belong in a lineup yet.

Only one series is set. The Lakers, who have the conference's best record (56-24) and who happen to be the reigning NBA champs, have lost six of nine. Their opponent, the Thunder, have the league's scoring leader in Kevin Durant and the likely NBA Coach of the Year in Scottie Brooks. It'll be the Mamba versus Durantula, which sounds more like a Rudyard Kipling short story than an NBA playoff series.

Elsewhere, to quote Slim Pickens in that legendary western "Blazing Saddles," what in the wide world of sports is going on here? The Mavericks are in second place with a chance to determine their first-round opponent in their season finale against San Antonio. However, should the Mavs lose -- the benefit being that they'd most likely draw a wounded Trail Blazer squad -- they run the risk of being passed by Utah, who must win tonight at Golden State and tomorrow night at home versus Phoenix.

The Jazz, Nuggets and Suns are all vying for spots three through five, with Phoenix ending its season on consecutive evenings against Denver and at Utah, respectively. Portland and San Antonio are neck-and-neck for sixth and seventh, the loser in that derby most likely drawing Dallas, which has looked like the most formidable team out west the past fortnight.

Don't addle your brain too much over these scenarios, though. Just remember these truths:

1. Any team, including inexperienced Oklahoma City, is capable of winning its first-round series.
2. Positioning is mostly irrelevant. There are no easy routes to the NBA Finals out of the West.
3. Sorry, Kobe, but the West is wide open.

A quick sketch of each team:

1. Los Angeles: The Lakers have committed subtraction by addition this season. Ron Artest for Trevor Ariza was a mistake and the young corps of back-ups (Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic) seem to have lost their joie de hoop. Shannon Brown has cooled off after a hot start.

Is Kobe healthy enough? Will center Andrew Bynum be back and how close to 100% will he be?

L.A. has the West's top player and home-court advantage, but they seem ripe for an upset. Can the Thunder crack the Lakers' two-year hold on the Western Conference championship?

2. Dallas: The Mavs are 22-7 since the All-Star break. Point guard Jason Kidd is once again enjoying a career rejuvenation, while Caron Butler has proven to be the better pick-up (as opposed to Antawn Jamison) from the Wizards' Ready-Aim-Fire sale. Dirk Nowitzki is the league's second-best player without a championship ring. On Sunday ABC analyst Byron Scott, who won three rings with the Lakers as a player, called the Mavericks the top team in the West right now.

Dallas will likely draw either old nemesis San Antonio or Portland, whose Brandon Roy suffered a torn meniscus on Sunday, in the opening round. We're either getting the last vintage Nowitzki-Tim Duncan series of these future Hall of Famers' careers, or journeymen centers Marcus Camby and Juwan Howard (a former Mav) of Portland will get center stage.

3. Utah: The Jazz must win their final two and have Dallas lose at home to leapfrog the Mavs for the second spot. Again, it hardly matters. Right now Utah could find itself facing Portland, San Antonio, Phoenix or Denver in the first round. You don't want to be their advance scout this week.

Jerry Sloan is the dean of professional sports coaching. Now in his 22nd season at the helm in Salt Lake City, Sloan has been the longest-tenured coach with one franchise since 2001 (when the Twins Tom Kelly stepped down).

Per usual, the Jazz garner less attention than any team north of 50 wins. As with Dallas and San Antonio, Utah could be playing its final game of the regular season against its first-round opponent, in their case Phoenix.

4. Denver: If coach George Karl is healthy, the Nuggets are the scariest squad in the West. They have a demi-superstar in Carmelo Anthony, an NBA Finals veteran in point guard Chauncey Billups, size inside with Nene and Kenyon Martin, and the scariest streak shooter in the playoffs in Josh Smith.

However, since Karl began undergoing chemotherapy treatments for squamous cell cancer in March, the Nuggets have been adrift. They are just 6-6 in their past dozen games. Karl will definitely miss the first round but he may be able to return to the bench for the second. Will the Nuggets still be around?

5. Phoenix: Alvin Gentry may not win Coach of the Year, but his midseason decision to promote second-year seven-footer Robin Lopez to the starting lineup has proven to be genius. Lopez went from a little-used scrub to a solid double-double guy each night, and no one benefited more from the move than power forward Amar'e Stoudemire.

Torch-lighter/filmmaker/point guard Steve Nash is as happy as he's been since the ":07 or Less" days, and Phoenix has posted a 21-6 post-All Star break record largely without Leandro Barbosa, who is back.

Planet Orange will most likely face Denver or Utah in the opening round.

6. San Antonio: Ginobili!!!!!!!!!!! Is it too much to suggest that the Spurs' Argentine Assassin -- just ask any area bat -- is a worthy MVP candidate? Through the injury to Tony Parker and the long, slow demise of Tim Duncan, it has been Ginobili -- the NBA's most cunning player -- who kept San Antonio afloat. All year long he has been the Spur of the moment.

Parker has at last returned, but Duncan is a shadow of his former self. Still, any team with Manu has a chance in a first-round series.

7. Portland: Marcus "Be all that you" Camby may have been the season's best midseason pick-up. The 14-year veteran has led the Blazers in rebounds thirteen of the past fifteen games and he put in a season-high 30 in Monday's win against Oklahoma City.

The Blazers, 16-4 in their past twenty games, are certainly dangerous. However, it's still unknown whether Brandon Roy will miss the playoffs due to his torn meniscus. If he's out, count the Blazers out.

8. Oklahoma City: With the exceptions of a metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest and a larger one a thousand or so miles down the coast, everyone will be rooting for the Thunder as if they're Butler in their first playoff series. Kevin Durant, who bizarrely failed to earn an All-Star roster spot only a year ago, is now the league's most lethal scorer. Second-year point guard Russell Westbrook will be making a homecoming when the series begins in Los Angeles.

Do the Thunder have the moxie to extend the Lakers to a sixth or seventh game back at the Staples Center?

Don't know. But consider this series the grand entrance of the Durantula into the greater American sports scene. Before this, he was just a niche taste, someone pure NBA appreciated. After this series, your sister will know his name.

[djohn2oo8]

I think the Thunder are playing with house money right now. They went from being one of the worst teams last year, to one of the best this year, and there's no reason to believe that they won't go into L.A. with a swagger, and play without fear, because no one scares them, and no one expected them to be there

[ffadicted]

I think the Thunder are playing with house money right now. They went from being one of the worst teams last year, to one of the best this year, and there's no reason to believe that they won't go into L.A. with a swagger, and play without fear, because no one scares them, and no one expected them to be there

Lakers in 5, and idk if you were going for this, but I can't help but read that in a rap rhythm

[bdictjames]

Did he just call Jr Smith Josh?

[djohn2oo8]

Lakers in 5, and idk if you were going for this, but I can't help but read that in a rap rhythm

I really wasn't