Between play-in breakouts and playoff surprises, the NBA Western Conference has consistently been held as the better of the two all year. The playoffs serve as a testament to the statement, seeing favorites swing out of balance and dominance to show itself again.
Play-In Recap: Closing out the old guard
Both the Clippers and Warriors are veteran teams with their fair share of issues— stars that have been at the center of increasingly difficult conversation regarding both their legacy and the teams they are on.
Kawhi Leonard has been on a tear for the last part of the regular season, playing some of the best basketball that he has been playing.
The Warriors’ play-in victory over the Clippers served as a resurgence of sorts, as Stephen Curry is a flame that refuses to extinguish. With his 35 points, Al Horford hitting all of his 3s in the fourth quarter, alongside Draymond Green limiting Kawhi Leonard, the Warriors won their play-in game against the Clippers.
The glory was short-lived, though. The Warriors eventually fell to the Phoenix Suns, who did to Curry what Green did to Leonard—limited him defensively until the engine ran out of gas. It felt similarly finite for both franchises; the “Old West” didn’t just lose; they looked exhausted.
Spurs vs. Trailblazers – a possible shift in balance
Most-Improved Player finalist Deni Avdija dropped 41 in the Blazers win over the Suns – in his first playoff game to secure the ticket to the matchup with the Spurs. San Antonio has faced an upward resurgence ever since they drafted Victor Wembanyama, making their first playoff appearance since 2019.
The Spurs dominated Game 1 and were cruising in Game 2 until an untimely injury to Wembanyama caused him to exit the game, in which they could not sustain the lead. With the series split, Portland can pull off an upset, with leaders like Avdija and Robert Williams III, but the rest of the Spurs players, notably De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell are not to be cast aside.
Nuggets vs. Timberwolves – Evenly matched
Did you know the Nuggets are responsible for both of the Timberwolves’ greatest comebacks in franchise history?
The first time this happened was 2024, where they blew that lead in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals to allow Minnesota to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The second time was in Game 2.
Even with Anthony Edwards playing through injury, he dropped 30 points in game 2, alongside Julius Randle, Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert limiting the offense, especially on the two-man game of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
For Jokic and Murray, it served as a “back down to earth” moment. The series will come down to how well they can shoot the ball when they need to—and for Minnesota, the key to victory is limiting that as much as possible.
Thunder vs. Suns – Happy to be here
Phoenix overachieved by making it to the first round after trading Kevin Durant—with their depth chart looking a little more than questionable in the offseason, but they’ve managed to show sparks, especially with Dillion Brooks and Jalen Green behind Devin Booker.
However, the Thunder started this season 24-1, with the last win of that run being to the Phoenix Suns—before they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. Being the same team that, this time last year, they had swept the Grizzlies.
The pressure is on for the Thunder to dispose of the Suns—and quickly. To re-affirm their dominance and to rest for the challenges ahead.
Lakers v. Rockets – Houston, We Have Problems
With the Lakers lacking their two primary playmakers in Doncic and Austin Reaves, many had the Rockets winning this series. However, when it was announced that Kevin Durant would be missing Game 1, the odds tipped in the Lakers’ favor.
What was not expected, was for the Rockets to struggle to score less than 100 points. When Durant came back, they struggled to score 100 points, again.
Being unable to score 100 points in the modern NBA is something that usually happens when there are great defenses and less-than-stellar offenses. It’s equal to a systemic failure by Houston because the Lakers’ big men, Jaxson Hayes and Deandre Ayton are situational in any other team contexts. Despite that, they’ve held Alperen Sengun to a combined 15 of 39 (38%) over two games. Houston took more shots than the Lakers in Game 1, won the offensive rebounding battle in both games and in Game 2, Durant coughed up nine turnovers alongside his 23 points.
Being outexecuted by Marcus Smart (the X factor for the Lakers) and Luke Kennard (who went 5-5 from three-point range in Game 1) usually deems reflection at a certain point.
Even with Durant, their offense clearly hurts without Fred Van Fleet, but at this point, it’s not certain that he could save them, even into next season coming off of his ACL injury.