Western Conference Semifinals Preview

Written by: William Petersen •

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NBA Western Conference

5 Dallas Mavericks lead 4 LA Clippers, 3-2

The Los Angeles Clippers will be without their star player Kawhi Leonard after he has been ruled out for the third straight game with inflammation in his right knee. The Clippers find themselves in a win or go home scenario after winning games one and four but losing the pivotal game five in Los Angeles. The Clippers have found the majority of their offensive production from James Harden, averaging 22.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists and Paul George, 19.8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists so far this series. If the Clippers are going to have any chance of forcing a game 7 in LA, the Clippers are going to need big nights from these two as well as slowing down the backcourt tandem of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Doncic has led the Mavericks all season in offensive categories and continues to do so, so far this playoffs averaging 30.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 8.8 assists. Luka has had some slow starts throughout the series which has caused Kyrie Irving to show flashes of his playoff experience from playing in Cleveland, averaging 25.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. If the Mavericks want to end this series in Dallas tonight, Doncic and Irving will have to come out swinging. Dallas could very easily find themselves heading back to LA for a game 7 if their two stars come out sluggish. If the Clippers can force a game 7 and then win this series, it would be a major blow to Dallas’s championship window as well as their overall mindset if they cannot beat a Clippers team without their best player.

Game 1: Clippers 109, Mavericks 97

Game 2: Mavericks 96, Clippers 93

Game 3: Mavericks 101, Clippers 90

Game 4: Clippers 116, Mavericks 111

Game 5: Mavericks 123, Clippers 93

Game 6: Friday 5/3 in Dallas 9:30 PM ET, ESPN

Game 7: Sunday 5/5 in LA 8 PM ET, TNT (if necessary)

3 Minnesota Timberwolves beat 6 Phoenix Suns, 4-0

Originally underdogs to win the series, the Minnesota Timberwolves came into round one with a vengeance after sweeping Kevin Durant and the Phoenix suns with their lowest margin of victory coming in game four, 122-116. The Timberwolves have been a top three team in the West all season and after stumbling in their last three games of the regular season, Minnesota found themselves as the three seed with a tough first round matchup in the Phoenix Suns. Minnesota rose to the occasion quickly after winning game one by 25 and holding onto the momentum from the jump. Budding superstar Anthony Edwards has been the talk of the playoffs so far, averaging 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 6.3 assists, in a series that never really seemed that close once Edwards found his groove. Rudy Gobert averaged a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and fellow big man Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 19.3 points and 9.5 rebounds to help supplement Edwards offensive domination. The Suns looked out gunned the whole series even though Devin Booker averaged 27.5 points and Kevin Durant averaged 26.8. The question in Phoenix is now what they will do this offseason as they have limited draft capital and a roster that is cumbersome with large contracts and limited results. The Timberwolves now find themselves as the road team as they travel to Denver for a date with the defending champion Denver Nuggets. This series should go no shorter than 7 games and I believe whoever wins this series will be the team to win the Western Conference.

Game 1: Timberwolves 120, Suns 95

Game 2: Timberwolves 105, Suns 93

Game 3: Timberwolves 126, Suns 109

Game 4: Timberwolves 122, Suns 116

1 Oklahoma City Thunder beat 8 New Orleans Pelicans, 4-0

The Oklahoma City Thunder became the youngest roster in NBA history to make the playoffs as a one seed and showed why they were the best team in the West in their first round sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans would have had a tough time winning this series even if they had star Zion Williamson, who injured his hamstring in the Play-In Tournament, but the Thunder found their rhythm after barely winning game one thanks to MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA has been producing at a high clip all season and is the main catalyst towards the success of this Thunder team, but SGA has continued his regular season success into the postseason, averaging 27.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in his playoff series debut. The Thunder have a loaded young roster with the likes of Jalen Williams who averaged 21.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5 assists which complimented SGA to help the Thunder get out of the first round efficiently. OKC now awaits the winner of the Mavericks/Clippers series which could be finished tonight or no later than Sunday night. OKC looks like a tough team to beat but the Pelicans roster was depleted and am curious to see how this young roster responds to either the Clippers or Mavericks who have much more playoff experience and name brand superstars than the Thunder.

Game 1: Thunder 94, Pelicans 92

Game 2: Thunder 124, Pelicans 92

Game 3: Thunder, 106, Pelicans 85

Game 4: Thunder 97, Pelicans 89

2 Denver Nuggets beat 7 LA Lakers, 4-1

The defending champion Denver Nuggets found themselves faced off with a familiar foe, the Los Angeles Lakers, in their first series of the 2024 NBA Playoffs after securing the two seed in the West. The Lakers secured the seven seed by beating the Pelicans in the first game of the Play-In Tournament thanks to a vintage effort by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. LBJ and AD continued to do what they have done all season, carry the Lakers, as they both averaged 27.8 points per game this series, with LeBron averaging 6.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists and Anthony Davis averaging 15.6 rebounds to go with that 27.8 points. Although these two superstars had success against a solid Nuggets defense, the Lakers bench could not keep up with a Nikola Jokic led Nuggets squad even though the Lakers led at halftime in every game this series. The soon to be three-time MVP nearly averaged a triple-double this series, 28.2 points, 16.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists. Jokic continues to show why he is regarded as the best player in the world but the Nuggets depth is the real reason why the defending champions beat the Lakers in five. Michael Porter Jr. in the wake of all the negative news surrounding his family has been shooting the lights out, averaging 22.8 points in this series on 55% shooting from the field and 48% from behind the arc. MPJ has been a great second option for the Nuggets due to Jamal Murray having a slow start to this playoffs. Murray did not shoot the ball the best in this first series but found himself on the end of two game winning shots in game two and five. Murray is a playoff performer that needs very little to find a spark and I would not be surprised to see him averaging 25 plus in their next series against the Timberwolves even though Minnesota has the best defense in the league. This series should go to seven games especially since the regular season series was split at two games a piece.

Game 1: Nuggets 114, Lakers 103

Game 2: Nuggets 101, Lakers 99

Game 3: Nuggets 112, Lakers 105

Game 4: Lakers 119, Nuggets 108

Game 5: Nuggets 108, Lakers 106

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