2008 Woodie Awards
NBA Playoffs
After a great season the NBA launches into what is shaping up to be a great flight for the championship
Max Wise
Issue date: 4/18/06 Section: Sports
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With so many great teams throughout the NBA this season, the playoffs look to be just as exciting as the season has been. Three teams, the Detroit Pistons, the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks have won 60 games this year, no small feat in today's NBA, but it will all be forgotten if they stumble in the playoffs.
The site of the greatest potential stumble is in the first round of the Western Conference. Depending on how the final week turns out, the Sacramento Kings should be playing either the Spurs or the Mavs in the first round.
Sacramento's record doesn't truly reflect the team's abilities, leaving San Antonio or Dallas with no opening round push-over. After a mid-season trade to acquire Ron Artest, arguably the best defender in the league and a formidable scorer, the Kings have greatly improved their roster.
Only last week the Kings beat the Spurs in San Antonio, where the Spurs have only lost ten games all season. Also, Spurs' shooting guard Manu Ginobili hasn't been suiting up as he nurses calf and shin contusions. While moving on to the second round may only be a fantasy for the Kings, this series looks to be competitive and exciting.
The Western Conference is also home to the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers, who look set to play each other in the first round. While it is a nice thought to think that Phil Jackson, the "Zen master", would be able to rally his Kobe-dependant team to beat Steve Nash and Shawn Marion's Suns, it just doesn't seem possible.
Kobe may even drop 50 points more than once during the series but the season will end for the Lakers, leaving Kobe with a sore back from carrying the team all season and Jackson contemplating his third retirement.
In the Eastern Conference things appear to be much more concrete. The higher seeded teams of the first round, the Pistons, the Miami Heat, the New Jersey Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers all look to easily slide into the second round. It's in the second round where the real excitement will begin.
The Pistons are positioned to play the Cavs after the teams beat the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards, respectively. This will be LeBron's first visit to the postseason, after his team endured a horrific second-half collapse last year. Lebron's first real test will be against the universally top-ranked Pistons with their suffocating defense and their finely tuned offense.
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