There are two sides to every story. Therefore, one team cannot emerge unless it is at the expense of another. And that, in a nutshell, is the NBA playoffs.
On one side of the Western Conference are two teams most spectators left for dead last week that have surged back to make their series competitive, while on the other sits a pair of squads that have seen their hopes of gaining a berth in the NBA Finals nearly dissolved.
Let's start with the good, and that begins with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Given a fighting chance in this series to compete with the mighty Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder has done much more than that. It is now tied at 2-2 in this series heading into last night's game in L.A. While evening things out with the defending champs is impressive enough, how it occurred is the real story.
Oklahoma City kept things close in its two losses in Los Angeles and then eked out a 101-96 win in Game 3 back home in front of a raucous crowd at the Ford Center. But in Game 4, the Thunder unleashed its fury on the Lakers and demolished the West's top seed by 21 points, 110-89.
The Thunder is being carried by its superstar Kevin Durant, who has clearly embraced the limelight of his first playoff appearance. And he has done it on both ends of the floor, averaging 26.8 points a game and guarding Kobe Bryant down the stretch in the key Game 3 victory.
It certainly doesn't hurt Durant that he gets to play with by far the best point guard in this series, Russell Westbrook. The former UCLA Bruin has almost 22 points per game over the first four contests and had added 5.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds a game as well.
But the biggest difference in this series is the quality minutes Oklahoma City has received from its bench players. Serge Ibaka has continued to be the presence in the post many thought the Thunder lacked, while rookie James Harden has provided a scoring punch. Couple that with the toughness of Nick Collison on the block and the continued improvement of another rookie, Eric Maynor, as Westbrook's backup, and the young Thunder have some talent in reserve. While the Lakers may have Lamar Odom, they need the likes of Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton to provide more of a spark in order to stave off the Thunder.
The Portland Trail Blazers were in a similar boat as Oklahoma City. This was another young team — albeit one with more experience — that most people assumed was another year away from contending after suffering a myriad of injuries throughout the season, including a knee injury to star Brandon Roy that was likely to force him to miss most, if not all, of the postseason. After stealing Game 1 in Phoenix behind the sublime performance of Andre Miller, the Blazers saw the Suns destroy them in the next two games, including Game 3 in the Rose Garden, where Portland usually is tough to beat.
Portland appeared to be in danger of falling behind 3-1 before Roy heroically returned Saturday, just eight days after an operation to repair his torn meniscus muscle, and inspired his squad to victory. While Roy provided the storyline, LaMarcus Aldridge has been the key to Portland's success.
That was clear in Saturday's 96-87 victory, as Aldridge's 31-point, 11-rebound performance helped Portland knot the series up. Aldridge has stepped up into Roy's role as his team's top scoring option, and Nate McMillan has received great contributions from the likes of Jerryd Bayless, starting in place of Roy, and Nicolas Batum. And Kevin Pritchard still looks like a genius for swiping Marcus Camby at the trade deadline to solve the hole in the middle of the Blazers' roster after injuries to Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla, as Camby has been his usual dominant self on the glass and on defense with 11.8 boards a game and 1.4 blocks.
Even though Phoenix responded to take back the series lead headed into Game 6, the Suns will have to go back to Portland and try to win another game, something that is never an easy task. If this series goes seven games, Portland can still steal the second-round bid.
From two teams unexpectedly back in their series, we jump to a pair of teams many had pegged as title threats that are now on their last legs, one loss away from seeing their seasons end. Those teams are the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets.
Both teams are victims of poor matchups. Dallas was saddled with the burden of another series versus the San Antonio Spurs; the two teams had played one another four times in the playoffs since 2001 prior to this meeting. Last season, the Mavs beat the Spurs 4-1 in the first round, but San Antonio has what Dallas is missing: four titles in the Tim Duncan era.
But thanks to Mark Cuban's fortification of the Dallas roster at the deadline, with the move to grab Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, Dallas looked like it had its best shot to get back to the finals since its debacle of a loss in 2006. Coupled with Jason Kidd's new found shooting touch, the continued excellence of Dirk Nowitzki and a deep bench, few people expected a San Antonio team minus a fully healthy Tony Parker to push the Mavs.
But since its win in Game 1, Dallas has fallen apart. San Antonio has imposed its will on its in-state opponent and has taken a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. It is the Spurs who have looked like title contenders, while the Mavs are left with a myriad of questions. Kidd has struggled with his shot all series, and was abused in Game 4 defensively by George Hill, who had 29 points to lead San Antonio. It says something when Dallas holds Tim Duncan to just four points and the Spurs still earn the victory.
It doesn't help if a team is deep if most of its players are struggling. Dallas looks like it will be making an early exit from these playoffs, as the Spurs had the chance to close the series out Tuesday night.
Much like the Mavs, the Nuggets' playoff run got off to a strong start with a 126-113 victory in Denver. But since then, the Jazz have controlled the series and are up 3-1. Deron Williams has been nothing short of sensational for Utah, averaging almost 27 points a game along with 12 assists. Despite the losses of defensive stalwart Andrei Kirilenko to injury before the series and Mehmet Okur after going down in Game 1, the Jazz have received great play up front from Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap.
Denver, meanwhile, has looked lost without George Karl behind the bench, as its coach recovers from throat cancer. It has been particularly noticeable on the defensive end, where the Jazz have averaged more than 112 points a game. Not that Denver had been a great defensive team in the regular season, but it has looked even worse in the playoffs. The Nuggets' struggles have not been limited to the defensive end, as they have averaged more than 16 turnovers in three losses.
As talented a team as Denver is offensively, it cannot win if that is the only facet of the game it is performing well in. The Nuggets will need to regroup if they want to survive past tonight's Game 5.
Going into these playoffs, most people understood that the West had the most likelihood of offering some upsets, with the one and eight seeds separated by only seven games in the standings. Parity is one thing, but these results are still surprising. But there is no telling whether they will stand. That is the intrigue of these playoffs.
