Even the 1 seed will be a huge challenge in the West

[JR3]

Memphis plays NO before the end of the season. Its in Memphis. I like Memphis to end up with the 7th seed. Hope we can sweep NO and have our guys rested for 3 tough series in a row.

[cheguevara]

oh come on. scared of NO??? NO is nothing more than cannon fodder in the playoffs.

[Bruno]

Sometimes the matchups in the path to a championship can fall in the Spurs' favor. You would think that this year, potentially being the one seed, that there'd be at least one easy matchup out there, but there isn't, especially if Memphis ends up being 8. It's going to be tough from the start. That's the point.

Memphis are without Gay, arguably their best player.
New Orleans are without west, their second best player and a matchup nightmare for Spurs.

And it's not like both teams are a bad matchup for Spurs. These are good teams to face in the first round.

I wouldn't also rule out Blazers falling to the 7th or 8th seed. They are just 1 game ahead and tiebreakers aren't in their favor.

[Obstructed_View]

This year's 4/5 matchup in the west is going to be an amazing series.

[crc21209]

I'm pretty sure that it will end up being Portland at #6, Memphis at 7, and New Orleans with the 8 seed. New Orleans has a tougher schedule down the stretch.

Memphis' remaining schedule:

Tue, Apr 5 vsLos Angeles Clippers
Fri, Apr 8 vsSacramento
Sun, Apr 10 vsNew Orleans
Tue, Apr 12 @Portland
Wed, Apr 13 @Los Angeles Clippers

New Orleans' remaining schedule:

Wed, Apr 6 vsHouston
Fri, Apr 8 vsPhoenix
Sun, Apr 10 @Memphis
Mon, Apr 11 vsUtah
Wed, Apr 13 @Dallas

[wontstartdumbthreads]

Memphis are without Gay, arguably their best player.

That's too bad. I think RJ would have been assigned to cover him. So...it'd be kind of funny.

[guzmangm]

Of course NO looks like the best option in the first round without West. However, now that I think about it, I'd rather have Dallas in the second round than OKC. Let the Lakers get OKC, which is a better match up for them Ibaka, Perkins and if they win we'd still have home court. Lot's of if's but eh, this is all subjective anyway.

[Whisky Dog]

Shooters shoot the best at home. Role and bench players play the best at home. We're an outside shooting team. We need all the home games we can get.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Memphis are without Gay, arguably their best player.
New Orleans are without west, their second best player and a matchup nightmare for Spurs.

And it's not like both teams are a bad matchup for Spurs. These are good teams to face in the first round.

I wouldn't also rule out Blazers falling to the 7th or 8th seed. They are just 1 game ahead and tiebreakers aren't in their favor.

Do not want the Blazers in round 1 either. Can't the East and West just trade 8 seeds this year? Seems fair to me.

[baseline bum]

Do not want the Blazers in round 1 either. Can't the East and West just trade 8 seeds this year? Seems fair to me.

Spurs would have to face them in the finals then, so what's the difference?