NBA Playoff Kryptonite

With the playoffs almost here, there are some top teams that don't match up well with some lower seeds. Here are the match-ups that those top teams don't want to see. (But we want to see them, because we love the upsets!)

San Antonio Spurs - The team the Spurs don't want to see first round is the Golden State Warriors. The Spurs had their hands full last year in the playoffs with the Warriors. The first game was a 129-127 thriller that the Spurs barely won. The Warriors still pushed them to game 6. The Warriors are better this year than last. Iguodala is playing very well in his new role, Klay Thompson is shooting really well, and Curry is not only shooting lights out but is also passing better than ever. The Spurs do not want to draw the Warriors in the first round. The chances are slimming down that this could happen, but the Warriors still could slid down from 6th to 7th or 8th, and perhaps the Thunder catch up to the Spurs and take 1st place.




Los Angeles Clippers - The Clippers are just 2 games behind the Thunder for second place, with a game against them coming up. They could catch the Thunder pretty easily. However, if they do, their worst case scenario could line up in the first round. The team the Clippers want to avoid is the Memphis Grizzlies.

Last year, the Grizzlies beat them in the first round (lost the first two game then won four straight). The Clippers can run with anybody and love to play fast place, high-flying basketball. However, The Grizzlies play physical and hard really get in the Chippers players heads. They play slow and dirty. They have two big, strong, mean bigs in Gasol and Randolph. They are a bad matchup for the Clippers. This year, they've played 3 times, and the Grizzlies have won two of the three.

Miami Heat - I'm going to go two rounds deep with the Heat.

1st round - Of any team that could mathematically end up in the 7th or 8th spot, the New York Knicks are the team the Heat would rather avoid. I think the Heat could handle the Knicks fairly easily, but the Knicks have the best chance to beat them over any other team in that position (Bobcats, Wizards, Hawks, or Knicks). The Knicks live by the jump shot. With Carmelo and JR shooting 3's, and Tyson Chandler and Stoudemire down low, the Knicks can really spread out the Heat and get the shots they want. When their shots fall, they're a very difficult matchup for the Heat. Last year, the Knicks beat the Heat 3 of the 4 times they played. This year, they only got them once, but they've been playing by far their best basketball these last two months.

2nd round - Worst case scenario - The Bulls and Nets play each other in the first round and the Heat have to play the winner of them.

• Chicago Bulls - LeBron shuts down Derrick Rose. But when Rose doesn't play, the Bulls do better against the Heat. A few years ago, Derrick Rose was playing in a game against the Heat, and the Heat were winning the whole game. Derrick Rose left (fouled out?) in the 4th quarter, and the Bulls caught up, forced overtime, and won. The past two years in the regular season, the heat are 1-0 against the bulls with Rose, and 3-4 against them without. Remember last year they Bulls broke their 27 game winning streak? The Bulls play really, really physical and mean when they play the Heat. The Heat would rather play anyone else in the 2nd round. Except for maybe the Brooklyn Nets.
• Brooklyn Nets - The Heat have lost all 3 meetings this year against the Nets. This team has been really good in the second half of the season. The Heat's only answer to guarding Kevin Garnett is LeBron James, and that is physically exhausting task since LBJ is so much smaller than him and KG plays so hard in the post. Pierce and KG really put in an extra something when they play the Heat. And with Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, this is a very talented team that's getting it together at the right time. They're a scary team and a bad matchup for the Heat.