Eight teams are still standing in the <a href="gopher://topicL3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL1N1YmplY3RzL05CQQ==" inlink="topic::L3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL1N1YmplY3RzL05CQQ==">NBA</a> play-offs, and they divide neatly into "kids" and "old folks". On one side of the generational divide are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers. On the other are the greybeard San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. Each of the four ongoing series pits young against old. In the past 10 years, these four veteran teams have won eight championships and made 12 finals appearances. The four youthful teams? None and none. It would seem, however, that the kids eventually must break through. Is this the year they do? In the East: Pacers versus Heat and 76ers versus Celtics. In the West: Thunder versus Lakers and Clippers versus Spurs. The only up-and-coming team favoured over their more veteran opponent are the Thunder. Oklahoma were the pre-season choice to come out of the West, and only an April hiccup dropped them behind the Spurs for the best record in the West. The Thunder have three young stars in Kevin Durant (24), Russell Westbrook (23) and James Harden (22), but they are not new to the play-offs; this is their third consecutive appearance. "They're going to be fighting and scratching and clawing that much harder because they're starting to taste what their goal needs to be just a little bit," said Mike Brown, the Lakers coach. His team needed seven games to oust a Denver Nuggets team without a superstar, and they had a short turnaround from Game 7 on Saturday to Game 1 last night. The Lakers could be in real trouble. The Spurs, meanwhile, relaxed in their rocking chairs for a week after sweeping the Utah Jazz. The Clippers had to beat the Grizzlies in Memphis on Sunday, and open in San Antonio tonight, and young stars Chris Paul (hip) and Blake Griffin (knee) are injured. In the East, both veteran teams took the first game of their series against their youthful opponents. The Celtics often show their play-offs pedigree by winning close games, and it helps that Kevin Garnett, 36, has been playing like he is 26; he is averaging 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds in the post-season. In Miami, the Heat's three stalwarts are each in the their ninth NBA season, but they were shocked in the finals last year by the Dallas Mavericks, who were even older. Career are finite, however, no matter how many tricks and mind games the old guys know. For the Celtics, Lakers and Spurs, this could be a final shot at a championship for their veteran corps. Follow us
