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2. Golden State Warriors vs New Orleans Pelicans
Anthony Davis in the last game of the season against the Spurs played like a man on a mission. His mission was to get the Pelicans into the playoffs, and he achieved it, in style. The final stat line read Davis 31 points, 13 rebounds, NOP 108-103 SAS. It is safe to assume that Davis is the next superstar of the NBA. If and when LeBron James and, to an extent, Kevin Durant choose to pass the baton of the best players in the league to someone, they won’t have to look much further than Anthony Davis.
He is a legitimate joy to watch on court and if you ever wanted to look up the definition of “stuffing the stat sheet” with respect to basketball, then all you would have to do is search for a marginally good game by Davis. Sure the Pelicans are almost sure to lose this series, but it won’t be wrong to expect at least one monster game from Davis.
A 40-point, 20-rebound game? Achievable. A game with Davis tallying something close to a Quadruple Double? Not outside the realms of possibility. This unpredictability is what will make this series a joy to watch.
This series is not evenly matched, on one hand there is Steve Kerr who is having perhaps the best season a rookie coach has ever had. On the other, there is Monty Williams who is just figuring out the ropes of coaching a team that has two ball-dominant guards in its roster, all the while trying to keep Davis happy with his touches.
But it is the coming out party of Davis and regardless of the result of this series, it will always be judged based on that unshakable fact. This will provide a blueprint of what to expect from the Pelicans in the future, and give Davis a taste of the playoffs, something he hasn’t had the opportunity to get so far.
The Warriors would like to dispatch the Pelicans as quickly as they can to get some much needed rest ahead of the second round. But they will have to go through Anthony Davis first.
1. Los Angeles Clippers vs San Antonio Spurs
No other first round matchup exemplifies the meaning of narrative more than the Clippers vs Spurs. It is safe to assume that both teams would have rather avoided each other till the stakes were higher, probably playing each other for a place in the NBA Finals. But such is the nature of the game that they have to go head to head just to get to the second round.
There are so many story lines in this matchup that it is hard to get a head count on all of them. The Spurs are looking for a repeat of last year, trying to win a championship back to back, something they have never done in the history of their esteemed franchise. The Clippers are trying to justify their elite status by trying to get to the conference finals for the first time. Something they have not managed to do ever since Chris Paul was acquired in a trade from the then New Orleans Hornets.
This series features two of the best point guards in the game, two of the best power forwards in the game and two of the best minds in basketball going head to head against one another. Will Chris Paul get bundled out again in a playoff series? Will the Spurs continue their impressive push through the first round on their way to basketball immortality? Will this be the last playoff series to feature the Hall of Fame duo of Tim Duncan and Greg Poppovich? This matchup is ripe with tantalizing questions.
But it means more to Chris Paul than anyone else. For someone who has been given the title of “Point God” by the basketball fraternity to falter again and again at the biggest stage of them all, it means more than just a first round matchup. Inadvertently every loss Paul incurs in the playoffs is tarnishing his legacy. And for someone who is as rabidly competitive as Chris Paul, this is enough to give him sleepless nights.
Paul is getting older and the Clippers’ championship window is shrinking. Pretty soon, no thanks to Doc River’s shameless lobbying of DeAndre Jordan as the Defensive Player of the Year, Jordan will command a max contract from atleast three different teams once his contract is up, which means that the core of Paul, Griffin and Jordan will not remain intact.
The Clippers need to win, and they need to win now. The irony? Instead of luck being on their side this year, they face the team any franchise would shudder to face in the first round.
Bring on the Playoffs!
