Pepper On Sports

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

It’s a battle of old school versus new school in the Western Conference Finals as the good ol’ San Antonio Spurs look for a fifth championship while the young Seattle Super Sonics….errr, Oklahoma City Thunder strive to make their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.

Both teams have only ONE loss between them through the first two rounds of the playoffs, a stat which really boggles the mind.  The Thunder swept the Dallas Mavericks before losing just one game to the L.A. Lakers in the second round while the Spurs swept both the Utah Jazz and the L.A. Clippers.  The Spurs won the regular season series between the two 2-1.

The Spurs have won 18 straight games dating back to early April, making this a run for the ages if they make it past the Thunder in any number of games. 

What makes San Antonio so good?  The Spurs run a quick offense with superb ball movement led by point guard Tony Parker who is having the season of his life.  with Russell Westbrook running the point, the Thunder are even faster, especially in transition (especially on the fastbreak) and have been successful shooting jumpers from all over the floor.  Just as important, OKC is averaging a league-low 10.7 turnovers in the playoffs while often capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes instead.

During the regular season Westbrook, NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant and James Harden were the top scoring trio in the league combining for 68.4 points per game.  That is FIERCE.  Sure, we’ve watched each guy go through shooting slumps are various points throughout the playoffs, but they were short in duration and clearly, didn’t cost the team wins at the end of the day. 

The Spurs aren’t exactly slouches on the other end.  He might be on the older side, but Tim Duncan is having an outstanding year.  The big man up’d his 28.8 ppg in the regular season to a fierce 32 points even in these playoffs.  Duncan also boosts a small hike in rebounding, now averaging 17.6 per game.  The guy is 36 years old.   Seriously.  It’s beyond impressive. 

Might OKC’s Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins limit him down low?  Yes.  The Thunder defense stifled L.A.’s bigs Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol at times, forcing the Lakers to settle for bricks, errrr, jump shots and three-pointers.   Luckily for the Spurs, who, along with its own trio of stars (Manu Ginobili being the third), also have legitimate depth as NINE guys on the roster averaged 8.9 points per game during the regular season.  Rookie Kawhi Leonard has come up big for the Spurs in these playoffs.  San Antonio will need all of the help it can get in dealing with a tough Thunder team.

The Thunder definitely took the tougher road in getting to the Conference Finals while getting nearly the same amount of rest as the Spurs.  My heart says the Spurs will win this series because of their experience level and coaching, but my eyes have seen the Thunder and the fury they play with.  I see this series going seven games and boy, would it be tough to send San Antonio packing on their own home court.  You guys will have to decide your own winner on this one since I can’t!

EASTERN CONFERENCE

I hate to say it, but I don’t think the Boston Celtics matter all that much in this series.  What I mean by that is the winner of the series depends on which Miami Heat team shows up at the arena.  Is it the confused, Bosh-less Heat?  The secure, pink-pants-wearing DWade, Bosh-less Heat?  The Heat, with Bosh? 

Surprisingly, the Celtics won the season series 3-1 against the Heat and even with players out due to injury, looked their best against Miami.  The old Big Three definitely get inspired taking on the new Big Three and it shows.  The great thing about Boston is the palpable emotion that drips from the pores of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, lifting not only their teammates but firing up the crowd as well, at home or on the road.  Aside from the Lakers, no other team enthuses the Celtics the way Miami does.

I would give the playoff edge to the team with a true center, but neither the Celtics or Heat has one, which is pretty interesting considering the value of the position historically.  I was looking forward to a Bosh vs. Garnett match up down low, but that is unlikely given Bosh’s abdominal injury.

The season-ending injury to Boston’s Avery Bradley could really hurt the Celtics as he has been integral to Boston’s defense, which has carried the team through the playoffs.  Boston is holding teams to a mere 83.9 ppg in the playoffs, good for the best team defense in the postseason.  It should be fascinating to watch that defense go up against the ever-potent Heat offense which is averaging 95.5 ppg.  The highest score against the Celtics this postseason has been 92 points while the Heat have scored over 100 points in six of 11 games. 

What makes the Heat machine run so well?  LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.  When they are on and feelin it, back up or else! Despite having issues at times, check out the overall playoff performances of these two.  James: 29.0ppg, 8.7 rpg, 5.9apg.  Wade: 23.8ppg, 4.5rpg, 3.6apg.  Of course, various Heat role players step up to the plate each night which is great, although not fabulous for the sake of consistency.

Interestingly, the Celtics Big Three has been offensively inconsistent throughout the playoffs while Rajon Rondo has done most of the heavy lifting averaging 15.0ppg, 12.5apg, 6.4rpg and 2.6 steals.  If Miami’s defense heats up and the Big 3 are off the mark offensively, it will make life tough on Rondo.  Sure he can sore and be a one man show, but his job is to distribute the ball.  Rondo alone can’t beat the Heat.

If Miami plays the way they did closing out the series against Indiana, they’ll beat the Celtics with the youth, speed and strength of LeBron and DWade along with the shot of Mario Chalmers (ok, shots…many shots… should they make it in the net).  I say Miami in 7. 

In a condensed season that has lacked consistency in quality of play and top-notch rivalry games, the NBA fed its hungry fans with a prime time basketball feast on Wednesday night.  Both the Thunder vs. Heat and Lakers vs. Clippers games were full of excitement and intensity, fueling the competition as the league prepares for the playoffs. 

The Heat and Thunder proved that in fact, basketball is a game of runs, and typically the team that puts their foot on the gas last comes out the victor.  Oklahoma City couldn’t sustain its early lead as the Heat came roaring back in what turned out to be a nail-biting 98-93 finish, good for Miami’s 17th consecutive home win, which is the longest streak in the league this season. 

Sitting just two games behind the Bulls for first place in the East, Miami would do itself a huge favor by pulling ahead of Chicago as home court clearly means a lot to this team which is poised to, once again, do real damage to opponents come the playoffs. 

That was just one of a few pertinent messages delivered by the Heat with a victory in which they overcame an 11-point second quarter deficit and were held to a dismal 37 percent shooting overall.  Apparently, some people think the Heat are a bunch of wussie, prima donnas.  Now, the latter might be true but this is one tough group of players that has battled injury, top-notch defenders and physical play throughout much of their careers. 

Wednesday night brought more of the same as the Thunder weren’t the least bit intimidated by the defending runner-up Heatles.  It was no guts, no glory for OKC which was evident in their chippy style of play and the willingness of Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins to go one or two body slams short of WWE on LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.  With the evolution of Perky in OCK comes more and more of a Celtics-like attitude of entitlement and fearlessness that the Thunder need to survive the playoffs out West.

Despite relinquishing an early and ultimately losing the game, the Thunder made just as big of a statement as the hometown Heat in the fact that they are a forced to be reckoned with on the court, both physically and fundamentally.  With the media’s coronation of these two as eventual Finals foes, both teams had to send a message and both did, even though only one team got the “W”  at the end of the night.

Across the country in Downtown L.A., another edition of intra-Staples Center play commenced between the Lakers and Clippers, duking it out in front of a Red and White home crowd. 

It is truly fascinating how one player can change the tone of a team, and thus the ambiance of an entire rivalry. 

Blake Griffin brought boatloads of excitement and confidence to the Clippers in his debut NBA season last year and while the “other” L.A. team certainly improved, they didn’t exactly instill fear in their bully big brothers wearing Purple and Gold. 

But this season is completely different.  Not only are the Clippers in the playoff hunt  - and by that, I mean actually going to make the post season, instead of hovering between 8th and 12th out West (and that’s during a good year!)  - but the team’s attitude has undergone a complete makeover with the addition of Chris Paul. 

It started with the first two pre-season games on the schedule for both teams, which saw the two LA squads playing each other.  From opening tip, there were no smiles and only scowls, specifically on the face of Blake Griffin, which would soon spread to the rest of his Clippers teammates.

The Clipps put the Lake Show on notice:  we’re no longer the lovable underdog who you share an arena with and whose fans buy our cheap season tickets just for the two games here at Staples where you, the Lakers are considered the “road team.”  We have an All-Star-caliber lineup of our own with Paul, Griffin, De’Andre Jordan and Chauncy Billups (pre-injury, of course), so don’t mess with us or you’ll be sorry.

The Clippers carried that swag right into the regular season and have not let up against the Lakers.  Heading into their third and final meeting of the regular season, the series was tied 1-1, with those two games consisting of 11 individual technical fouls between both teams.  

A red-hot Kobe Bryant and the Lakers put the little Clipps in their place early on in the rubber match, but the Red and White fought back with a massive run of their own, making the Heat’s comeback look lame in comparison to CP3 & company’s comeback from a 15-point third quarter deficit. 

There were dunks, threes, and fouls galore in a game full of high-flying antics and brutal physicality that scared the Lakers straight, as late-game defense coupled with the hoops-heroics of Bryant and Bynum sealed a 113-108 Lakers victory.

The Clippers are now 2 1/2 games behind the Lakers who own the 3-spot in the Western Conference, at least for the time being.  More importantly, the Lakers own the tiebreak as they won the season series against the Clippers 2-1.

Including the two pre-season games, each of the five meetings between the Lakers and Clippers this season were worth watching as every one of them involved a sense of urgency, rivalry, bitterness and importance.  A few years ago, when the Clippers made the playoffs for the first time in what felt like forever, there was a possibility that the Lakers would meet their neighbors in the second round, but that never came to fruition as the Phoenix Suns knocked out the Lakers in round one before giving the Clippers the same treatment in the second round.

A Lakers/Clippers playoff series could easily go seven games even though I think the Lakers are a stronger team on many levels at this point. 

Aside from providing ratings gold for the NBA and various TV networks, both a Lakers vs Clippers and Heat vs Thunder playoff series would be a welcome treat for basketball fans.