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Inside the NBA
In the wild Western Conference, there's playoff intensity in the fight for playoff spots By Ian Thomsen Nelson, however, is stuck in the Western Conference, where the nightly matchups resemble a WWF brawl. On March 26 the Mavericks embarked on a five-game intraconference trip that could have damaged their chances of making the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. Instead Dallas gained ground with upsets at Utah, at Portland and at Sacramento. Things became vicious when Karl Malone bloodied Dirk Nowitzki's lip in the first half of Dallas's 98-90 come-from-behind win over the Jazz. "Mr. Referee," pleaded Nowitzki, "did you see him hit me in the face with an elbow?"
Nowitzki's retaliation was limited to his 27 points and 13 rebounds, but Nellie's combative stance was appropriate in the wild West. The top 10 clubs in the conference have been playing with an intensity unrivaled in recent times. "I've never seen so many quality teams," says 76ers coach Larry Brown, who believes the crucible of the tight playoff race only increases the likelihood that a Western team will win the championship for the third straight year. It's as if the West has become a 14-team league unto itself, with the East serving as a minor division. "If the Sixers were in the West, they'd be fourth or fifth," says Nelson. Want to argue? Of the nine winningest teams at week's end, only the 76ers and the Bucks were from the East. At this time last year the Lakers and the Trail Blazers had distanced themselves from the pack in the West. Now those two goliaths will meet in a first-round best-of-five series if their conference standings -- fourth and fifth, respectively -- through Sunday hold up. Portland coach Mike Dunleavy believes no seed is safe. "A Number 1 could be beaten by a Number 8," he says. "You look at us and the Lakers, and I don't know if either of us is better than we were last year, but the other teams have gotten better. Every team has guys who can get on a roll and go for 40 points on you." The Lakers, Spurs, Blazers, Jazz and Kings are all contenders for the championship, though Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson believes that the Kings are probably a year away. "It's a stretch to think that Sacramento can go from eighth place [last season] to winning," says Jackson. San Antonio has established itself over the last month as the team to beat, but rivals don't worry that the Spurs will dominate the playoffs as they did two years ago. At week's end they held a spare 2-game edge over the Jazz for the top seed and home court advantage through at least the conference finals. Yet each challenger to San Antonio has its flaw. Utah has put together its most talented group yet, but it was 9-14 through Sunday against the likely postseason clubs in the West. The chemistry-challenged Blazers -- "the best team money can buy," as Jackson puts it -- plummeted from first to fifth in the conference thanks to a five-game losing streak. The Lakers have yet to behave cohesively on defense or in the locker room, where Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal have squabbled. "I still feel they're the team to beat," says Nelson, who suffered a 98-89 loss at L.A. last Friday night despite Bryant's absence with a sprained left ankle. Potent lower seeds such as the Mavericks, the Suns and the Timberwolves will bring an anything's-possible feeling to the playoffs. Phoenix won its seventh in a row last week to assume apparent control of the No. 7 seed, while Minnesota struggled to hold on to the final spot against the surging Sonics, who had won 10 of 11 through Sunday. The Rockets, whose 40-34 record would put them in the playoffs in the East, appear doomed to the lottery. "We're probably going to have 10 teams in our conference that win 45 games," says Minnesota coach Flip Saunders, whose team will play five of its last six games on the road. "If you win 45, 46 games and you don't make the playoffs, you've got nothing to be ashamed of." Issue date: April 9, 2001
For more Inside the NBA see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, April 4. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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