NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Second Round Outlook
The NBA Playoffs are nearly at the elite eight stage. There is one more slot available in the conference semifinals. That spot will go to either the Los Angeles Clippers or the San Antonio Spurs. The Clippers host the Spurs tonight in a “win or go home” Game 7 extravaganza. The winner of the game will move on in the NBA Playoffs to face the Houston Rockets on the road Monday night.
[Updated note of record: the Clippers defeated the Spurs 111-109, moving on to face Houston]
Getting past the defending NBA champions will be no easy task. The Clippers will have their hands full tonight. Whichever team that advances will be regarded as the slight favorite in the series with Houston, despite not having home court advantage. Not that the winner of this series should care, as the road team has won four out of the six games played thus far.
Houston will have the best player of the series with MVP candidate James Harden. Los Angeles, albeit not very deep and San Antonio has better teams.
For Harden, he is looking at continuing his coming out party as a top-five player in the NBA. He will have some help with a healthier Dwight Howard. He was not as healthy in last year’s playoffs. This time out, he can have a strong say in how far the Rockets can go.
Power forward Terrence Jones is also coming on as a solid pro. He stepped up huge in Howard’s absence. Jones is showing a nice shooting touch for his position and his rebounding, especially on the offensive glass that has kept the Rockets on pace to a successful NBA Playoff run.
The other Western Conference semi matchup begins tomorrow between Golden State and the Memphis Grizzlies. MVP frontrunner Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are trying to win the NBA finals for the first time in franchise history. Two big questions loom large in this best of seven showdown – will Mike Conley Jr. be available after suffering from a facial fracture, and can the Warriors frontcourt handle the Memphis’ physical style of play?
Conley Jr. did have successful surgery and will make the trip to Oakland according to CBS Sports. If he does play he will experience some discomfort due to where the fracture is located, local Memphis Dr. Mo Schnapp told reporters.
“There’s gonna be swelling, there’s gonna be bleeding, there’s gonna be inflammation. This will hurt for the next couple of weeks real bad, and it will be about six weeks before it levels off. He’s gonna be in pain for sure.”
The Grizzlies need a healthy Mike Conley Jr. for them to have a chance at upsetting the Warriors. As good as the frontcourt of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph is, somebody has to get them the ball in order to exert their dominance. They are better when they control the paint and play inside-outside basketball. Uneven guard play neutralizes the effectiveness of Memphis’ strengths. Going into the season, they did not anticipate an early exit in the NBA Playoffs. Many thought that Memphis was one of few teams who had a legitimate shot to win it all coming out of a tough Western Conference.
The first round of the NBA Playoffs were somewhat easy for both Golden State and Memphis. The rest is over, and now it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty.
[Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images Sport]
