The Wild Wild Western Conference of the NBA

WOW! What an emotional roller-coaster of a season for all of the 30 NBA teams. Some teams experienced rejoice and happiness as the final seconds ticked away during the regular season as others were heartbroken and left out in the cold. The New Orleans Pelicans defeated the San Antonio Spurs at home to lock their spot into the playoffs for the first time in four years. The defending champs didn’t roll over without giving the Pels a fight because they had playoff home court advantage on the line against the divisional rival. The final day of the NBA season usually consists of teams rolling over and conceding to others in order to prepare for the playoffs or gain higher percentages in winning lottery picks, but this season had the highest stakes and drama that I’ve ever seen in season’s end. The Oklahoma City Thunder were sitting outside looking in on the playoff picture at 9th in the conference. The Thunder needed help from the Spurs and an easy win against the wounded Minnesota Timberwolves in order to solidify the 8th spot against the Golden State Warriors. Needless to say, the Western Conference was full of high rating drama up until the end, and here is a preview of the first round.

#1 The Golden State Warriors vs. #8 New Orleans Pelicans

The Golden State Warriors finished with the #1 record in the NBA in 2015, and they sit on top of the most powerful and one-sided conference in recent years memory. Led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson(Splash Brothers), the Warriors lead the league in points scored per game and assists. The barrage of three pointers that incur during a Warriors game is enough to deflate any NBA team, and they are a clear favorite going into this year’s playoffs. Did I forget to mention that the Warriors are #1 in opponent’s field goal percentage? Good luck New Orleans!

#2 Houston Rockets vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks

There haven’t been many problems in Houston during the 2015 NBA season. MVP candidate, James Harden, has led the Rockets to the number two seed in the Western Conference. Dwight Howard and the Rockets big men have seemed to come back to life just in time for a post season run. The Rockets are 30-11 at home, and they look forward to playing against the rival Dallas Mavericks on Houston’s home court. Dallas is 1-3 against Houston this year, but they never got down by more than 12 against the instate rival. The Mavs have plenty of firepower to balance out the season record against James Harden and company.

#3 Los Angeles Clippers vs. #6 Memphis Grizzlies

The Clippers have been the better team in Los Angeles for quite some time now. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan regularly put on a high flying show for all fans who admire alley oops and slam dunks. The Clippers will be matched up against the tough Grizzlies of Memphis. Hard work and a defensive mentality has given the Grizzlies the meanest and toughest reputation in the NBA. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are very familiar entering the playoff picture. The Griz’ aren’t ever a walk through opponent, and it’s their 5th consecutive year making the playoffs. The Clippers-Grizzlies match-up has gotten messy before, and it should make for a great playoff series.

#4 Portland Trailblazers vs. #5 San Antonio Spurs

The Portland Trailblazers might be the only high seed in the NBA playoffs that have a spread going against them. The Blazers have two of the top twelve scorers in the NBA in Damien Lillard and LeMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers also have had a great year and a phenomenal home crowd to support them, but they are matched up against the NBA defending champs, the San Antonio Spurs. Coach Greg Popovich and his Spurs have won five NBA championships while making the playoffs for 18 consecutive seasons. Tim Duncan is one of the best Power Forwards of all time, and the Blazers are going into this match-up banged up with key injuries to wing players. This match-up is a classic young guys versus old guys, and it shouldn’t disappoint to watch the stars shine.

In conclusion, the wild wild Western conference should elevate the NBA ratings to a new plateau that hasn’t been reached before. Every team has worked hard and played 82 games to get to this point, and it’s a new season for those teams remaining. All eight of these teams have a legitimate shot at writing basketball history, and there is no clear-cut winner among them. Now it’s time to sit back and watch the madness and all of its glory.

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