--After a week or so of lackluster home stretch, the NBA Playoffs are finally here (beginning tomorrow night, I believe). There are some really great series coming up, especially in the West. Literally every one of the West's matchups has a compelling subplot:
- LA vs. Oklahoma City has Kobe vs. Durant, the past versus the future; the Lakers have been on a real slide, and the Thunder always play up against them;
- Denver vs. Utah has a great point guard matchup in Chauncey and Deron, and potentially great coaching;
- Phoenix vs. Portland would've been better with Brandon Roy healthy, but Nate McMillan is the legitimate Coach of the Year because of how he's handled injuries, so I wouldn't count the Blazers out;
- and Dallas vs. San Antonio has two of the most veteran squads in the NBA, each of whom finished strong, and who are in position to make one last run at the Finals.
The East is, as you might expect, way less intriguing, but Boston v. Miami, Atlanta v. Milwaukee (even sans Bogut, which was a really tragic injury), and Orlando v. Charlotte should all have some throwback ugliness in their defense, just nasty. If Orlando were to run a gauntlet of Charlotte, Boston, and Cleveland, they'd have nothing to fear from the West's defenses. Finally, SBNation had a series of reasons to adopt each team, some of which (especially for the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavs) were very compelling, at least to non-fans. I, for one, will be pulling for the Thunder, because I like Durant, because they'll be playing the Lakers, and because they're just so damned fun to watch.
