NBA Western Conference playoffs matchups: Can Warriors live up to record?
Game 1 schedules
New Orleans Pelicans at Golden State Warriors, Saturday 3:30 p.m., ABC
Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets, Saturday 9:30 p.m., ESPN
Portland Trail Blazers at Memphis Grizzlies, Sunday 8 p.m., TNT
San Antonio Spurs at L.A. Clippers, Sunday 10:30 p.m., TNT
Anthony Davis, welcome to the NBA playoffs.
On the final day of the NBA's regular season, the league's fastest-rising star and his New Orleans Pelicans got the job done against the surging San Antonio Spurs and thus will be in the postseason for the first time in their young big man's three-year career. It was the most dramatic development on a wild night of 11th-hour jockeying, and now the Pelicans – winners of eight of their last 11 games – are rewarded with the right face the top-seeded Golden State Warriors in the first round.
The journey from happy-to-be-here to in-over-their-heads may not be long. Yet even if the Pelicans get routed as so many surely expect (they lost three of four to the Warriors in the regular season), they ended the night happier than the Oklahoma City Thunder. Russell Westbrook & Co. were knocked out because of Davis' hoops heroics (31 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks), ending their injury-ravaged campaign while keeping them out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
Elsewhere, the Houston Rockets deserve major praise for landing the second-seed in what was a brutal Western Conference. Their one-sided win over the Utah Jazz coupled with the Spurs' loss to New Orleans means they'll host the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round. There are storylines galore on that front, as the in-state rivalry has grown acrimonious in recent years. The Rockets won three of four matchups against the Mavericks this season.
The defending champion Spurs were the big losers on the night, as they came oh-so close to taking that No. 2 seed during the second half of the season (they won 21 of their final 25 games) only to fall short at the end. They finish with the sixth seed and will start on the road against the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Clippers. The Spurs and Clippers split their four games this season.
Last but not least, the No. 5 seed Memphis Grizzlies host the No. 4 seed Portland Trailblazers at the start. This is a rough matchup for the Blazers, who dropped all four games against Memphis. The big man battles should be tremendous (LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol) not to mention the point guard play (Mike Conley, Damian Lillard).