THE 2015 National Basketball Association playoffs, which to hardcore hoops junkies is the “real” season, are upon us.
Early results from seven of the eight first-round, best-of-seven postseason matchups – four each from the Eastern and Western conferences – have run true to form in that the favored teams have gone up by a game or two against their series opponents. Only the East duel between four-seed and Atlantic Division champion Toronto (49-33) and fifth-seeded Washington (46-36) has been off-chart.
In the East, No. 1 seed Atlanta (all-time franchise-best 60-22) is 1-0 against No. 8 seed Brooklyn (38-44, the Nets grabbed a playoff ticket due to a tie-breaking 2-1 season series victory over 38-44 Indiana); No. 2 seed Cleveland (53-29) is 2-0 vs. No. 7 seed Boston (40-42), including yesterday’s 99-91 Game Two success); No. 3 seed Chicago (50-32) owns a 2-0 lead over No. 6 seed Milwaukee (41-41) and No. 5 seed Washington has won the first two games at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre for a 2-0 edge, including a 117-106 triumph in Game Two yesterday.
Out West, No. 1 seed Golden State (an all-time franchise-best 67-15) owns a 2-0 lead over No. 8 New Orleans (45-37); No. 2 seed Houston (56-26 for the Rockets’ first division title since 1994) went up 2-0 with a 111-99 shellacking of No. 7 Dallas (50-32) yesterday; No. 3 seed Los Angeles Clippers is 1-0 against No. 6 and reigning NBA champion San Antonio (55-27) going into tomorrow’s Game Two at Staples Center; and No. 5 seed Memphis (55-27) is 1-0 vs. No. 4 seed Portland (51-31) going into the second straight game at Memphis.
The seeding of teams is a bit tricky since it does not automatically guarantee homecourt advantage in a best-of-seven series. It’s because of a ruling that states that a division winner (three in each conference) cannot finish with a seeding lower than fourth regardless of its win-loss record and will own a higher seeding over a division second-placer.
That said, however, it’s a team’s win-loss record that determines which gets to play the odd seventh game (based on a 2-2-1-1-1 format) at home.
The ruling that calls for no-seeding-worse-than-fourth for the division winner was in effect in the Western segment of the four-tier playoffs, shaking up the conference pairings and/or races.
Portland, being the Northwest king, was seeded higher than Memphis at No. 4 but the Grizzlies, by virtue of a better win-loss card, are enjoying homecourt advantage against the Trail Blazers.
The ruling somewhat also endangered the title-retention bid of the San Antonio Spurs (55-27).
Entering the final playdate of the 1,230-game regular wars, the Spurs had a chance to secure the Southwest Division crown and the No. 2 West seed with a victory over the Pelicans in New Orleans. Instead, the Alamo City squad lost to relegate Tim Duncan and company to the No. 6 seed and, in the process, gift the Pelicans (45-37) with the West’s eighth and final playoff berth over Oklahoma City (45-37).
An early last-day winner, the Thunder got the boot despite an identical record with New Orleans because of a 3-1 season series debacle at the hands of the Pelicans, thereby putting to waste an MVP-type season performance from NBA scoring titlist Russell Westbrook (28.1 ppg and a league-high 11 triple-doubles over Houston’s James Harden’s 27.4 ppg and four T-DS, both second in the majors).
Note that New Orleans and the four other higher-ranking teams in the Southwest Division finished above .500, duplicating the division’s feat in 2010-11. But unlike before, all five members also made it to the playoffs this time.
With the Spurs’ loss to the Pelicans, even Memphis (55-27, a final-day victor over visiting Indiana that sent the Pacers to an early vacation) leapfrogged past the San Antone for the No. 5 seed. The Grizzlies and Spurs wound up with identical ledgers but the former was seeded higher because of a better division record (9-7 to 8-8, the second tiebreaker). The head-to-head duel between the two teams had been deadlocked at 2-2. That’s how costly the Spurs 108-103 loss to co-division member NO in their season finale.
Now the route to a second consecutive title feat (unprecedented since SA never repeated following championships in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007) becomes more torturous for the Spurs, who potentially won’t have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
Granting it survives past the first round, Houston (if it beats Dallas) awaits them in the second turn (conference semifinals); overall top seed Golden State (assuming the Warriors take care of business in their first two series, including against potential second-round foe Memphis) in the third (West finals); and even against Atlanta in the NBA Finals in case the Hawks reach that far.
Be that as it may, the Spurs can take some inspiration from another Texas outfit, the 1995 Houston team. The 47-35 Rockets also were seeded No. 6 in the West and did not have homecourt advantage in any of the playoffs’ four rounds. Yet they wound up retaining their NBA title with a 4-0 sweep of Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic in the NBA finals.
En route to the mountain top for a second straight time, the Rockets whipped four 57 wins-or-more teams – Utah (60 wins, 3-2 in a best-of-five), Phoenix (59 wins, 4-3 in conference semis, down 0-2 and 3-1), San Antonio (league-best 62 wins, 4-2 in conference finals, 3-0 on the road) and finally Orlando (57 wins).
Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion,” declared Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich at the time.
I won’t. Until today, I have not forgotten Rudy T’s fighting words.
With all due respect to the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, the top seeds in their respective conference, the Spurs are far from done this early.
The road to the Larry O’Brien Trophy will still pass through San Antonio. And LeBron James and his new cast of Cleveland Cavaliers might yet squeeze past the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks (or Washington Wizards) to reach another finals date with the Spurs that would be a rematch of the 2007 NBA Finals where Duncan got the better of James, who was then in his first tour of duty in the Wine City.
Timmy and LeBron in a finals reunion? Don’t bet against it.
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