We Know L.A., But Who Can Challenge Them In the West

[Da Boss DJ Jo Corleone]

It took until the final night of the regular season for us to figure out the playoff picture, and what a night it was. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Chicago all were fighting for better playoff positions, but only a few of those teams played like it.

Dallas needed to beat Houston, and they did 95-84. Dallas also needed San Antonio to beat the Hornets, which they did to the tune of 105-98. This moved Dallas from number 7 to number six where they will meet the southwest division champion San Antonio Spurs. The regular season series between these two teams is tied 2-2 with each team winning in the other teams building. Dallas has started clicking as an entire unit, though they’re still concerned with how healthy Josh Howard really is. The Spurs are a team with a championship pedigree, even with the loss of Manu Ginobli San Antonio still has to be the favorite in this series, but it’ll take them 7 games to get it done.

Now back to the New Orleans. After their loss to the Spurs, the Hornets now find themselves preparing to battle the Denver Nuggets. The regular season series is tied 2-2 with each team having one win in the other team’s gym, but the advantage definitely has to go to Denver. The main reason is they have home court, but even bigger than that, Tyson chandler is still out. As good as the Hornets are, they need Chandler’s presence in the paint if they want to get past the Nuggets.

Kenyon Martin is back and judging by his performance last night, he’s going to be a problem. Chris Anderson has been a shot blocking beast and Nene goes hard in the paint every night that he’s on the floor. David West will definitely contribute to the Hornet’s cause but without Chandler he has a tall order to fill. Luckily for New Orleans though, Chandler should be back during this series.

With the Houston Rockets losing to Dallas they now hold the number 5 slot, which pits them against the number 4 team the Portland Trailblazers. Houston leads the regular season series 2-1, but both teams are playing a little different these days. The Rockets won when they played each other on April 5th, but Portland at home for 7 games is a scary scenario to find yourself in. Everyone is saying the same thing “They’re the hottest team playing right now”, and with all the youth on that team they show no signs of slowing down.

This is going to be a great series, and like Chris Paul last year, expect Brandon Roy’s debut to be memorable. If you have not had a chance to watch this young man play, then make sure you clear your calendars for all the Blazer games because you’re in for a treat. He is the future of the NBA.

Finally we have the #1 versus #8 matchup, the Lakers and the Jazz. Before, I gave the Jazz a chance to beat the Lakers, but with the way the Jazz have been playing the last month and a half; they’ll be lucky if L.A. doesn’t end it in 5 or 6.