The San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder may have the power to defeat one another, but no team vying for the Western Conference's lowest seed includes a possiblity to upset both of the two potential candidates for the No. 1 place. Carrying out a 100-88 win over the Spurs on April 4, Kevin Durant and the Thunder today trail Tim Duncan's top-seeded Spurs just by a in the West. As the No. 8 seed is one of the L.A. Lakers (by way of a mere half-game within the Utah Jazz), there are always a number of moving parts which have yet to be in out West. But it could not harm to have a look at the matchups we might see in the very first round of the playoffs in order to further solidify the idea that the early angry is extremely unlikely this season. *Note: Since the Dallas Mavericks have under a three-percent possibility of acquiring the No. 8 seed, in accordance with ESPN's Playoff Odds Calculator, they have been thankfully omitted from consideration. Goodnight, nice Mavs. San Antonio Spurs compared to. La Lakers If the somewhat tenuous status quo holds, this'll be the first-round coupling we'll see in a couple of months. The Lakers have won two straight games but only five of these last 10. So that they are not just looking such as for instance a juggernaut these days. And even though the Spurs have only been slightly better lately (they have won six of 10), there is little reason to believe that L.A. Could engineer a first-round disappointed. This season have been won both of its meetings with the Lakers by san Antonio. Undoubtedly, the two advantages have come with a combined total of five items, but the way the Spurs play makes them an extremely difficult game for the Lakers. Harry How/Getty Images Tony Parker's ability to penetrate and usually cause damage along with his speed is just a problem for L.A.'s porous perimeter protection. San Antonio also boasts a cadre of capable long-range shooters like Danny Green, Matt Bonner and Kawhi Leonarda'all of whom take at the very least 38 per cent from beyond the arca'to use the Lakers' painfully slow defensive shifts. Plus, Duncan and Tiago Splitter give the Spurs a set of experienced bigs to put at the Lakers' large frontcourt mixture of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Keeping all that in your mind, this really is one of the most likely upset situation of all the possible first-round matchups. But that is largely since the other three possibilities appear incredibly far-fetched. San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Punk The Spurs have beaten the Utah Jazz two out of three times this season, with Utah's main gain coming on an unlikely buzzer-beating three by Mo Williams that very very nearly caused Gregg Popovich to grab Danny Green's head off. In another two activities, the overmatched Jazz was handily dispatched by the Spurs by typically 8.5 points per contest. Such as the Lakers, Utah lacks a ready opponent in the backcourt to corral Parker. In addition, no Jazz big man has had any success whatsoever in containing Duncan. In the aforementioned Spurs loss on Dec. 12, San Antonio's ageless forward tallied 22 points, 21 boards and six blocks. Utah may have some frontcourt level with Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors, but no person in that group steps as much as the technical beauty of Duncan. This is a Jazz team with small playoff experience on its list. The Spurs, despite a fall in the regular time, would eat this membership living. Oklahoma Area Thunder compared to. La Lakers If OKC manages to make up the half-game deficit that divides it from the Spurs, it may end up facing the Lakers in Round 1. And if that takes place, a sweep is all but guaranteed in full. With their speed, youth and incredible athleticism, the Thunder seem to have been created in a lab particularly to embarrass the Lakers. Durant, Russell Westbrook and Co. have taken three out of four from L.A. The most up-to-date conference, and this year encapsulates what sort of line between these two clubs will probably play out. On March 5, the Thunder stomped L.A. by 17 points as Westbrook carved up the Lakers defense to the track of 37 points. Just to set items in context, if Parker represented a problem for the Lakers, a nuclear threat is constituted by Westbrook. Harry How/Getty Images Plus, Metta World Peace, who's coping with knee surgery, might be nowhere near willing to handle the onerous duty of wrangling Durant. The duty will fall to Kobe Bryant, whose relatively bionic feet mightn't be up to the task of holding the Lakers on both ends, if that's the case. Contemplating Bryant's title knowledge and sociopathic desire to win, it is difficult to completely rely his group out against OKC. But an upset is extremely unlikely. Oklahoma Town Mastery versus. Utah Punk The potential matchup between the Thunder and Jazz might be the most interesting of the available options. With the capability to play a large array that features Jefferson, Millsap and Favors on the court together, the Jazz may drive Oklahoma City to keep Kendrick Perkins on the floor. That may appear just like a modest victory, but any such thing Utah can do to keep consitently the Thunder from playing an inferior lineup that features a 4-5 combination of Durant and Serge Ibaka may help its chances. Soobum Im-USA TODAY Activities In as their fans have been recognized to mix themselves into a frenzy during postseason play, addition, the Jazz do have a significant home-court advantage. But even with a couple of interesting arguments inside their favor, the Jazz only don't have the horses to run with the Thunder. OKC has had two out from the three meetings against Utah this season, and also factoring in losing, the Thunder have placed an average net rating of plus-11.3 points per 100 items over those three activities. The Jazz will look a great deal different after a active free-agency time come july 1st. But THEY would be certainly dismantled by OKC almost a couple of months early if the 2 groups met in a first-round line. Therefore, there you have it. It's not the most interesting thing to know that the seed in the West (whoever it is) has minimal potential for knocking off the highest (whoever it is). Obviously, it is not that surprising either. Low seeds aren't designed to overcome high seeds. But this season, because of some special matchup advantages for the big guns, upsets look even not as likely than normal.
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