West

1. San Antonio vs. 8. Memphis

The Spurs should be able to pass by even if Ginobili can't go.

San Antonio in 5. Memphis was probably better than most people expected this season. But with the Spurs having been the most consistent team this year and having homecourt advantage, Memphis picked a bad time to sneak in as the #8 seed. The Spurs have too much playoff experience with Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Poppovich. And even with Ginobili hurting his elbow Wednesday night, the Spurs are still good enough to win the first round.

2. Los Angeles vs. 7. New Orleans

Maybe one day Chris Paul will get out of New Orleans and win a championship

Los Angeles in 5. The Hornets might have a chance if they had David West. But with him out due to a torn ACL back in late March, the Hornets don’t stand a chance. Even with Chris Paul running the show and the Lakers being on and off all season, New Orleans doesn’t have enough size to contend with the Lakers. Kobe most certainly won’t allow his team to lose in the first round, particularly with how tough he has been on his teammates lately.

3. Dallas vs. 6. Portland

Gerald Wallace has kept the Blazers afloat with Brandon Roy struggling.

Dallas in 7. Dallas has struggled in the first round recently, advancing to the second round only once in the past four years. Portland struggled all year long and Brandon Roy may never be the player he was with his lack of knees. These two teams are about equal in talent. I take Dallas for two reasons.

1. Point differential. Dallas’ differential (+4.2) is nearly 3 points higher than Portland’s (+1.7).
2. Road record. Dallas is 28-13 on the road, Portland is 18-23. Portland has a great home crowd, with a record of 30-11 at home (tied for 3^rd best in the West), but Dallas has home court in this matchup.

4. Oklahoma City vs. 5. Denver

These two All-Stars will make the difference in this tight series

OKC in 7. Who would’ve thought Denver would have not only made the playoffs as the #5 seed, but go 18-7 since trading away Carmelo Anthony? They have and they could very well sneak to the second round past a very talented Oklahoma City Thunder. But the Thunder have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, two All-Stars, one of whom is the NBA’s leading scorer. And Westbrook has shown that he has a flair for big games. It’ll be a close series, but the Thunder will prove to be more resilient.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 14th, 2011 at 8:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.  Tagged Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, Dallas Mavericks, David West, Denver Nuggets, Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Lakers, Manu Ginóbili, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Russell Westbrook, San Antonio Spurs You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.