A season of contrast

NBA playoff preview

Ajitpaul Mangat, Staff

The 2007-08 NBA season has largely been a season of contrast. In the Eastern Conference there has been little parity with two hallowed franchises emerging as clear favourites. In the Western Conference there has been an amazing competitive balance between upstart and hallowed franchises with no playoff seed still decided. In the end, these two stories will be written as one in the NBA finals, but before that happens, here is a breakdown of each conference heading into the NBA playoffs:

Eastern Conference

It was clear before the season began that the Boston Celtics would be a team to be reckoned with this season, but it’s unlikely anyone outside of Boston thought they would be this good. The Celtics have dominated the regular season, having already clinched top-seed in the Eastern Conference, and should finish the season with at least 65 wins. The key to the Celtics’ success has been their defence, which ranks first in the entire league, allowing less than 90 points-per-game. A major reason for this great defence has been the off-season acquisition of forward Kevin Garnett. Along with being among the best in the league at defensive rebounding, blocking shot and stealing the ball, Garnett’s length and athleticism causes match-up problems for opposing offences. It is this great defence and his overall importance to the Celtics that has him mentioned as a MVP candidate. The Celtics will not only be a contender in the weaker Eastern Conference, going 36-10 against Eastern conference teams but also in the finals, going 25-5 against Western conference opponents.

The main impediment for the Celtics will be the Detroit Pistons. Although overshadowed by the Celtics, the Pistons have had a quietly dominating season — amassing the second best record in the league and allowing the second fewest points in the league. One of the team’s offensive strengths is their ability to get scoring from any of their starters (four out of five are in double figures in points-per-game), which creates defensive problems for opposing teams, as they cannot key on a single player. The Pistons will also have confidence if they play the Celtics in the East finals, as they have defeated them once this season and played them tough in the other two games.

The best of the rest includes the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers. Although they are led by superstars, centre Dwight Howard and forward Lebron James, respectively, they will be hard-pressed to compete with the Celtics and Pistons because of a lack of depth.

Western Conference

The Western Conference from afar may look like a complete mess with nine teams separated by just eight wins, but a closer examination reveals that only a handful of teams actually have a real chance to make the finals.

The keys to NBA playoff success are stingy defence, having your best player outperform your opponent’s best player in a series and the ability to steal games on the road. A number of the nine contenders lack all or some of these characteristics. The Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz lack the stingy defence (allowing over 100 points-per-game), a true playoff-savvy superstar and are either under or barely over .500 on the road. The Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks lack the stingy defence, have a losing road record, and, although they have high-scoring superstars, guard Allen Iverson and forward Carmelo Anthony and forward Dirk Nowitzki, neither of them are dominant on the defensive end.

The Phoenix Suns have a superstar in guard Steve Nash and are strong on the road but they are too weak on the defensive end. They were hoping the acquisition of centre Shaquille O’Neal would aid them, but at 36 years of age he is no longer the defensive presence that he once was. The Houston Rockets are a difficult team to measure, as they possess all of these characteristics. However, the loss of centre Yao Ming, who was having arguably the best season of his career, to injury leaves the Rockets with a big hole that will be exposed in the playoffs. The San Antonio Spurs have tons of playoff experience, play very strong defence, have amassed a winning road record and have a superstar in forward Tim Duncan. However, there road record is unusually weak (barely over .500) and Duncan is not the dominant player he used to be (the second-lowest point-per-game of his career).

This leaves the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers. The Hornets are the second best defensive team in the West, are led by MVP candidate guard Chris Paul and have amassed nearly as many road wins as home wins. The Lakers play weaker defence, but their strong offence has left them with plus-seven points per game (points for minus points against), which is amongst the best in the league, are led by MVP candidate Kobe Bryant, and have also amassed nearly as many road wins as home wins. In a series, the Lakers would have the advantage because of their playoff experience.

In the end, look for a classic NBA finals matchup between the Celtics and the Lakers and for finals MVP Garnett and the Celtics to take it in seven thrilling games.