Photo of Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash courtesy of www.phoenixsunsjersey.com.
The NBA Playoffs were set last night and the West certainly had a wild finish. Here are the matchups and win-loss records from the Western Conference (all teams west of the Mississippi River):
No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers (57-25) vs. No. 8 Denver Nuggets (50-32)
No. 2 New Orleans Hornets (56-26) vs. No. 7 Dallas Mavericks (51-31)
No. 3 San Antonio Spurs (56-26) vs. No. 6 Phoenix Suns (55-27)
No. 4 Utah Jazz (54-28) vs. No. 5 Houston Rockets (55-27)
And for the Eastern Conference:
No. 1 Boston Celtics (66-16) vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks (37-45)
No. 2 Detroit Pistons (59-23) vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers (40-42)
No. 3 Orlando Magic (52-30) vs. No. 6 Toronto Raptors (41-41)
No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers (45-37) vs. No. 5 Washington Wizards (43-39)
As has been the case in the past few years, teams in the Eastern Conference with a losing record make it to the playoffs while the grueling Western Conference is a total slugfest with teams falling just short of playoff contention (this year it was the Golden State Warriors who would've been a 4 or 5 seed in the East if they weren't located in San Francisco). But my main question is why does the NBA reward teams to play in the playoffs with losing records? The playoffs have a special meaning to them, only the best of the league plays in them. That special meaning gets diluted when teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and even the Toronto Raptors play with .500 or losing records.
Anyhow, as much as I'd like the playoffs to be awash in purple and orange, the smart money is on Celtic green. Then again, I didn't pick the Kansas Jayhawks to win the NCAA March Madness.
