The NBA Playoffs - Game 1 in the West

THE WEST 

What? No Phoenix Suns? Yes for the second time around the Big Daddy Shaq wont be in the playoffs. The west teams have been fighting tooth and nail that the standings came out final on the last day of the regular season as three teams were tied with a 54-28 mark. If Houston won their final match it would have four teams tied with the same mark.

 SAN ANTONIO (3) vs. DALLAS (6) 

The San Antonio Spurs is now the team of 2007 NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker. With Manu Ginobli out for the season, Parker has to put on a show every night for them to recapture another title. Since the 2002-2003 season the Spurs have won it every other year and are out to continue that trend with the team that they have.  Look for the Spurs to rely more on Roger Mason as Manu’s replacement together with the veteran smarts of ex- Maverick Michael Finley. Of course Tim Duncan is a given on offense and defense and so is Dirk Nowitzki. The key for both these teams are how their supporting cast will fare against each other. Jason Kidd says being underdog takes away a lot of the pressure for their team to win.  Look for Jason Terry and Josh Howard to give valuable contributions but I believe they will have a hard time capitalizing on Ginobli being out of the Spurs line up.

As Rick Kamla said, this is one exciting match up since both teams can win big in each team’s building, the difference will just be their desire to win it all! I give the Spurs the nod since they have battled to where they are now with most of their players in the injured list. I believe this one will go down the wire with Tony Parker coming out with the best all around performance to bury the Mavs in 7 games. 

PORTLAND (4) vs. HOUSTON (5) 

Despite having one of the best guard-center tandems in the league the Houston Rockets have time and again been underachievers. They have a good run during the regular season and occasionally falter in the first round of the playoffs as if they are trying to follow a script.  The Blazers on the other hand are back to the playoffs and as a young team with wingmen who enjoy slashing and shooting can be the dark horse of the West.  The core of Brandon Roy, La Marcus Aldridge and a healthy Greg Oden will definitely give the old hand Rockets a run for their money.

The interesting match up since Houston has the veteran smarts while the Trail Blazer’s youth and exuberance is a sight to behold.   The key match up is Brandon Roy and Ron Artest. Roy is ready to bring the Blazers to new heights while Artest is ready to thump and bump Roy to give him more experience.  For the Rockets, they need to bring the ball to Yao which they had a hard time doing.  The toughness of Artest, Shane Battier and experience of Brent Barry will be hard to match. On the other hand, the energy of the Blazers will make it hard for the Rockets to match. 

I think the Rip City Blazers will rip the hearts out of the Clutch City Rockets but I think this time Houston will advance after 7 games.