The 82-game regular season concluded on Wednesday, setting the stage for the first round of the play-offs, starting tomorrow. Jonathan Raymond gives us the lowdown.
Suspense
The eighth seeds in both the East and West were still up for grabs going into Wednesday. The New Orleans Pelicans held onto their post-season place in the West, taking a must-win game against the mighty San Antonio Spurs, while the Brooklyn Nets were handed their spot after beating the Orlando Magic as the Indiana Pacers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The future
New Orleans playing their way in is particularly fortunate for neutral observers. Their series will pit Anthony Davis, who at 22 may already have surpassed LeBron James as the most talented player in basketball, on display against the NBA’s best defence in the Golden State Warriors and and likely MVP Stephen Curry.
Who missed out
The Oklahoma City Thunder three years after reaching the finals led by 23-year-olds Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and 22-year-old James Harden, miss the play-offs entirely this season, with Durant hurt, Harden having an MVP year in Houston and Westbrook, himself an outside candidate for MVP, valiantly trying to get the Thunder in – and coming up short. It’s been a bizarre and unlucky and, really, generally unfortunate stretch in OKC.
The Pacers also missed out on a feel-good story, after Paul George returned from his gruesome off-season injury with a few games remaining. Instead of the genuinely enjoyable Indiana squad getting a chance to shock everyone – and they very well might have had a shot – the play-offs will feature the underperforming Nets instead.
Greek Freak
Milwaukee’s superstar-in-the-making Giannis Antetokounmpo will get a chance to light up the post-season against the Chicago Bulls in the East’s 3 v 6 match-up. Antetokounmpo has been more aggressive lately for the offensively challenged Bucks and what better stage to showcase his potential?
True gantlet
The West’s 3 v 6 first round meeting, meanwhile, guarantees at least one team that realistically could have counted among the five title favourites go out in Round 1. The defending champions San Antonio have dusted off the cobwebs just in time – as always – for the play-offs, having won 15 of their last 18 and looking like a well-oiled machine again. And the LA Clippers, led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, go up against the Spurs after posting the second-best point differential in the league this year.
The other ties
James begins his quest to return the Cleveland Cavaliers to the finals against the Boston Celtics; the Houston Rockets face the Dallas Mavericks in a Texas showdown; the Portland Trail Blazers meet the Memphis Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors face the Washington Wizards.
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