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Western Conference Preview

Kristen Garnand — NBA expert, fashion pundit and lifelong Utah Jazz fan (she still thinks Utah should have beaten the Bulls in the 1997 and 1998 Finals…*snicker*) — teamed up with A Lot Of Sports Talk to preview the first round of the Western Conference.  Our conversations about The Association over the years have taken us down some interesting (sometimes hairy) roads, and taking a look at the matchups in the West was no exception.

 

   #8 Houston vs. #1 Oklahoma City   

 

A:  This series should be a whole lot of fun.  OKC, best team in the West, defending conference championships and facing their old teammate, James Harden.

K:  It’s going to be the most competitive and fun series to watch in the West now, as well as the sexiest series as well.

A:  ?????

K:  Think of it: James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka! Just beautiful men…and great players on the court.

A:  You mention Harden first?  Hmm…so you’re not too deterred by the bird’s nest coming from Harden’s chin?

K:  Not at all, and I usually don’t like beards on guys.  But it’s not just that.  He just carries himself in such a confident way, so smooth.  Oh, and he’s GOOD!  I think he’ll definitely want to show what the Thunder are missing when they traded him in the offseason.  That’s part of the reason I think this will be a much longer series than people think.  Durant and Westbrook are just special, even when they’re not on the same page on the court (which happens more often than it should).

Fear the beard? Harden averaged 25.9 PPG, but also finished third in the NBA in TOs, with 285 (Jae C. Hong/AP)

And even though the Thunder are hellbent in getting back to the Finals, the Rockets match up well with them, I think.

A:  They totally do. Omer Asik is a rebounding beast (third in NBA with 11.7 rebs/gm), and as long as he doesn’t get outplayed in the post by Kendrick Perkins and Ibaka, Houston should stay in every game.  That, and forward Chandler Parsons, hands down, is the most underrated player in the NBA.  He does almost everything on the court well — hits clutch shots, plays good perimeter defense, passes well, etc.  Almost a Detlef Schrempf clone.  Obviously, he’s going to be going up against KD, and so he may have to be superhuman. Speaking of superhuman, Durant joined the 50/40/90 club (51% FG, 40.1% 3PT, 90.5% FT), and let the parade of free-throw attempts begin once the playoffs starts and he getting almost every call (not a complaint, just an observation).

Oh, and there’s also Linsanity making his playoff debut!

K:  Yes, Jeremy Lin.  The whole Linsanity thing was fun in New York, but he never got to play in the playoffs because of his injury late in the year, so you know he wants to perform his best in the brightest light the NBA has to offer.  Although he guarding Westbrook is going to be a series-long nightmare for him.

A:  As much a nightmare as his [Westbrook’s] wardrobe?

Russell Westbrook

K:  I like it.  He can pull off the hipster look without looking too sickly thin or dorky.  Fit athletes can pull that off and look great.

A:  I’m not fit nor an athlete, so I’ll be sticking to my baggy jeans and hoodies while leaving the Sally Jesse Raphael glasses at home.  So we both got OKC, right?

K:  Yes. And even with all the All-Star talent withstanding, OKC has Derek Fisher, one of the ultimate winners/good luck charms in NBA history.  So that counts for a game/series or two.

A:  Absolutely.  If I was teammates with Kobe and Shaq, I’d be a lucky man as well!

 

Predictions:

Kristen: in 7 games            A Lot Of Sports Talk: in 5 games

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   #5 Memphis vs. #4 L.A. Clippers   

 

K:  My favorite point guard, as well as favorite player, of all time is on the Clippers, and there’s no way I can go against L.A.

A:  Yes, Chris Paul is a great leader and the best point in the league.

K:  Yeah, I know. But I was talking about Chauncey Billups.  Loved him on Denver, and his addition was the number one reason the Nuggets were so close to making the NBA Finals in 2009.  Obviously, we know what he did for the Pistons once he showed up.  I know he’s older and can just give a few minutes here and there, but being healthy FINALLY this season couldn’t have happened at a better time for Los Angeles.  And this was a team that really found it’s groove this season, and the 17-game win streak early on this season was far from a fluke.  Although Blake Griffin is a little overrated, and still has to show me more (except for looking a little like Kris Humphries physically).

A:  Really??  Hmm, I’ll have to put pictures side-by-side to see it.  Which means I might run across Kim Kardashian pictures, so I’ll pass for the time being.  Back to the series, everything says Los Angeles, but I’m taking Memphis.  They’re the best rebounding team in the NBA, and if Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol do what they have done this season in the front line, pounding the Clips inside could make the difference.  That, and Mike Conley has played great this season.  Good defense, a still-evolving offensive game and playing close to even with Paul will be crucial.  And I think he’ll do it. That, and Memphis had the series won last year, and let two games absolutely slip from their mitts, especially the 27-point blown lead debacle in Game 1 in Memphis.

Chris Paul (r.) led LA to a franchise-record 56 wins, but the health and availability of Chauncey Billups (l.) could be the key to an extended playoff run (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

K:  Well, I see it going the other way, and there shouldn’t be too much of a problem in advancing.  As I said, the Clippers have been in sync all season, and their bench is crazy. Sorry to bring up a Kardashian, but Lamar Odom is part of a great bench unit (Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Eric Bledsoe).  Those fans have seen so many bad to REALLY bad teams ever since I started following the game — and I’ve been following the game since before Jerry Sloan was the coach of the Jazz and Frank Layden was on the sidelines.  It’s great to see them do well for a change.

A:  Frank Layden?  Wow, you’re older than I thought!

K:  Don’t remind me…

 

Predictions:

Kristen:    in 5 games                      A Lot Of Sports Talk:  in 6 games

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   #6 Golden State vs. #3 Denver   

A:  This series has so much potential to be a great one.  It’s arguably the two most intimidating home courts in these NBA Playoffs.  Denver has the best home record in the NBA (38-3) and if you remember the Warriors crowd at Oracle Arena during the 2007 postseason, they brought in sound meters that compared the noise in there to the sound a airplane makes in taking off.

K:  Yeah, I’m actually too bored to care about this series.

A:  Are you serious, Kristen?  Come on. I thought you were an expert.

K:  I am, and I’m still too bored to care.

A:  Well, I’ll tell you why you should care.  If you listened to our interview with Warriors TV broadcaster Jim Barnett earlier, then you’d know that Golden State was one of the surprise teams in the NBA. Stephen Curry became one of the best 5-to-10 guards in the NBA and has really stepped up his game since the All-Star break (maybe motivated by his All-Star snub, perhaps).  David Lee is finally going to play in the postseason, and continuing his 20-10 output is going to be key against Denver’s frontcourt.  A healthy Andrew Bogut inside, along with Lee, could give the Warriors the edge on the front line against a Nuggets team without Danilo Gallinari (ACL injury) and Kenneth Faried (day-to-day with an ankle injury).

K:  I do like Kenneth Faried, and his amazing story of coming from Newark, New Jersey and staying in college at Morehead State, overcoming homesickness and getting his diploma.  He might be missed if he doesn’t play.  Definitely Gallinari will be a big blow.

A:  It will, but it’s as if Denver grows players like them on trees. Regardless of who is on the floor, Denver wants to do one thing: run!  Ok, three things: run, run, run!  And running in that altitude just catches up with opponents. Ty Lawson, after years of head coach George Karl wanting him to be more assertive and be a leader, finally got the message this season and was the spearhead in Denver’s record-setting season.

Denver has won playoff series in only two seasons since 1990, one of those being the memorable 8-over-1 upset engineered by Dikembe Mutombo and Co. in 1994 (NBAE)

Gallinari’s loss may actually be Wilson Chandler’s gain; he’s just as good of a shooter than Gallo and more athletic and a better defender (although a worse flopper than Danilo, thank goodness).  JaVale McGee is the wild card, because he is wild (and so talented and, at times, dominating).  But when he and Andre Miller are on the floor, they might perform better version of the alley-oop than Lob City in Los Angeles.

Do you know that the Nuggets have won a playoff series in only two years since 1989 (in 2009 and 1994)?

K:  Ok, now I care more about this series because you reminded me of that 1994 series against Seattle.  People forget that those ’94 Nuggets in the next round took the Jazz to seven games (until the greatness of Stockton and Malone took over in Game 7, thank goodness).  Dikembe Mutombo is just awesome.  He played hard, is such a humanitarian and a star in commercials now.  Oh, and Mark Jackson is the coach at Golden State right?  I remember him complaining and being whiny at his playing time in his one year with the Jazz.  Didn’t he realize that he was a teammate with an institution, John Stockton, and he wasn’t going to get the time he wants?  You disrespect Stockton (or Karl Malone) and you’re almost as good as dead in my eyes.  So I’m definitely taking Denver.

A:  Wow, strong words.  Back to Mutombo, you just like to wave your finger at people who don’t being it strong to you on the street like Dikembe, huh?

K:  No, though it wouldn’t be a bad idea in the future.

Predictions:
Kristen:    in 6 games                A Lot Of Sports Talk:  in 6 games

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   #7 L.A. Lakers vs. #2 San Antonio   

 

K:  No Kobe, No Chance!

A:  No Kobe, No Chance?

K:  You heard me.  There’s no way.  And it’s a shame that he got hurt right before the playoffs started.

A:  I know.  Well, in your case, being a Jazz fan, you miss him not playing because you miss a chance to boo him again.

K:  Ok, we Jazz fans usually detest Kobe.  But I’ll admit that I’m a Kobe fan card-carrying member, which means I have brought shame to my family.  I miss the old-school attitudes that players used to have in past generations, when players like Malone, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan (yes, even Michael, although I don’t have strong positive feelings about him otherwise) would do anything just to get that W, if it was game one of the regular season or game seven of the NBA Finals.

The head of the snake was cut off of The Black Mamba. Kobe’s Achilles tendon tear keeps him out of the postseason (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE Getty Images)

There’s no way Kobe should have gone out like that with his injury right before the playoffs.  And it’s not like he’s going to get any real help from Dwight Howard in this series.

A:  Well, they can have an advantage against the Spurs if Howard and Gasol can pound the Spurs inside.  But that was supposed to be the case when they first united to begin the season, but…

K:  …but it didn’t happen!  And that doesn’t include Steve Nash, whom I like, but he’s 555 years old!  Whether he plays or not doesn’t matter. And Howard should go back to doing McDonald’s commercials, because he’s too much of a clown and not serious enough for my liking.  He’s just lazy, and only is motivated when he wants to.  It’s a shame because I like him, but he’s not serious about being a champion.  He just wants to be the man, and the Spurs are the antithesis of that.  They’ll just crush the Lakers.  I was going to give them one game if Kobe was active, but it will be a sweep.  And a boring sweep to boot.

A:  Boring? Is that what you think of the Spurs?

K:  They’re good, and I know they’re not supposedly as boring as their perception is, but honestly, they’re boring.  Tim Duncan; great player, best power forward not named Karl Malone, but he just goes about his business and is nondescript (a.k.a. boring).  Tony Parker, I give him more respect now that he’s away from that awful Eva Longoria.

They’re going to win this series, win the next, then hopefully an Oklahoma City-San Antonio Western Conference Finals rematch.  I’d love to see that.

A:  Well, I’d love to see all my predictions come true and have the upper hand on you with our prognostications.

K:  Well, you’re just wrong.  You know I’m right (and will be right again).

A:  Women…

 

Predictions:
Kristen:    in 4 games                      A Lot Of Sports Talk:   in 5 games

 

 

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