By Sean Simara @Sean_FootyMad @TLE_Sport
The Western Conference has been overshadowed by one man and one team: Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. It has been record breaking stuff from him and the side – unbeaten runs, points scoring, OT wins, 3 pointers from what seems the parking lot; they have been freakishly good. The Warriors are chasing 73 wins which would beat the record held by the Chicago Bulls 1996 team. But what else is going on in the west?
The best of the rest at the minute is the San Antonio Spurs, the team that mixes youth and experience. The Spurs failed to live up to expectations last year but this time I expect them to be a lot better and go further.
Oklahoma City Thunder are third, they have been dubbed the team best set to deal with the Warriors. They have Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook, two great players in their squad, but those two still don’t have a single NBA ring together. It could be the case one has to sit back and one take the lead. However, with Durant and Westbrook, they seemingly can’t.
The LA Clippers are always going to be sniffing around the business end of the competition. They just hope not to choke again in the play-offs. Their star Chris Paul has to add the ring to his CV to cement his name with the greats. Also if DeAndre Jordan can start scoring his free throws things are looking very good for the Clippers.
The usual faces of Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies make up the other spots. I find it interesting the Houston Rockets are in 8th as I would have had them much higher and I’m a little surprised at their underachievement so far. As bad as things are in Houston, they shouldn’t slip out of the play-off unless they have a monumental break down.
Another note from the west – it has been the Kobe Bryant farewell road show as he announced this will be his last year in the NBA. The Lakers are the second worst team in all of the NBA so it’s more of a look back to ‘yeah we know how good you use to be’ rather than a glorious swansong.
So to sum up in the west, I’m going for Golden State Warriors v LA Clippers final showdown.
