The NBA playoffs officially kicked off on April 16 where all three Texas teams are once again in the postseason for the third straight year.
This year the San Antonio Spurs, led by forward Kawhi Leonard, are the number two seed in the Western Conference behind the defending champions Golden State Warriors.
The Dallas Mavericks went in as the number six seed and the Houston Rockets are the number eight seed in a tough Western Conference.
On Monday night, the Mavericks were the first Texas team to get eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Things sure did backfire after Mavs owner Marc Cuban made a comment saying that forward Kevin Durant is the only superstar on the Thunder. Russell Westbrook sure wasn’t kind about that comment after he scored 36 points in game five which ended the series.
No one seemed to be on Cuban’s side after the comments including Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle, who sees Westbrook as a legit superstar.
The Mavericks couldn’t get the job done but the Spurs have a legit opportunity. The Spurs are now favorites in some people’s eyes now that Stephen Curry is out for two weeks due to his knee and his ankle being sprained.
Also, the Los Angeles Clippers are no longer favorites with guard Chris Paul out for four to six weeks after breaking his hand against the Portland Trailblazers on Monday night. Blake Griffin will also miss the remainder of the playoffs too due to a quad injury.
The playoffs just won’t be the same with those all-stars not being able to play.
The healthiest team by far is the Spurs. I tried to google San Antonio playoff injuries and found nothing. Why is that?
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich is one of the only coaches to rest his players throughout the entire season. Leonard, one of San Antonio’s younger guys, missed a dozen games this season because of rest.
The Spurs caked walked through their series after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies 4-0.
San Antonio can use all the rest they can get before their series matchup against a young and energetic Thunder team that just took down the Mavs.
Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge have become the Spurs new stars now that Tim Duncan’s age finally caught up with him. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker also took a backseat this season to help to the team’s success.
The Spurs also tied the 1985-86 Celtics home record at 40-1 for the season.
The Houston Rockets have been the biggest surprise this season after last season going to the Western Conference finals and now being the eighth seed.
Dwight Howard has been the biggest speculation all season long on whether or not he should stick with the franchise.
He was a part of trade discussion before the NBA trade deadline.
The Rockets are currently down 1-3 against the Warriors. Curry will likely miss the remainder of the series but is there really a chance Houston can win?
When Curry went down in game four, Golden State caught fire from the surrounding cast and the game got ugly.
Rockets guard Jason Terry guaranteed a win for Houston in game five on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Three Texas teams went in and now there’s two left standing.
The Spurs will take on the Thunder at AT&T stadium Saturday on TNT.
