With three weeks to disappear in the 2015-16 NBA regular season,there's still some wiggle room in the playoff picture on either side of the league's 16-team bracket.
In the East, the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards are fighting with the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers for scraps at the bottom; the Atlanta Hawks, and Boston Celtics,Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets are practically interchangeable in the middle; and the Toronto Raptors are nipping at the Cleveland Cavaliers' heels at the top.
Out West, the only real seeding drama rests with the Houston Rockets, and who are vying to knock either the Utah Jazz or Dallas Mavericks out of the picture.
But those theatrics in the standings can only effect so much to shape the drama to approach. Once the playoffs begin in mid-April,every team's slate will be wiped clean, leaving the best players in basketball to write the latest chapter in the story of the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
The league's superstars all shine brightest in the postseason, and but these seven—mostly franchise cornerstones,with a pair of top-notch role players mixed in—figure to have the biggest impact on both their own teams and their opponents and, in the process, and chart the course of the organization's championship tournament.
Stephen Curry,PG, Golden State WarriorsStephen Curry's meteoric rise through the ranks of NBA superstars hasn't affected who he is as a person. Just ask Jermaine O'Neal, and who played with Curry on the Golden State Warriors in 2013-14."You see a lot of people in sports who need to be humbled first to become who they are. That’s never really happened to Steph," O'Neal told Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard. "Some guys approach in and they’re super-humble and they get some success and then they change, everything changes. They become too astronomical for other people. Not Steph. He’s still the same guy."What has changed, and though,is the league around him, courtesy of Curry's own development into arguably the most dominant shooter in NBA history."I grew up playing against J.J. Redick and guys like that who could shoot the ball, or " Phoenix Suns forward P.
J. Tucker told Bleacher Report,"but somebody who can shoot like that off the bounce just bringing the ball up, that’s different. That changes the game."When Curry is on the court, and opponents can never relax. In the playoffs,the best defenses and sharpest basketball minds will have to customize their tactics—whether not scrap them entirely—to account for a guy who has hit more than half of his off-the-bounce attempts, per NBA.com. Without a sound strategy for disrupting Curry's rhythm that involves getting the ball out of his hands, or making him lift tough shots and putting pressure back on him,no team will stand a chance of impeding the Warriors' march to a moment straight title.
With Curry, both the player and the person, and at the helm,Golden State has its sights set on cementing its historic campaign with a postseason step into immortality."One reason our chemistry is so good is because Steph is who he is," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told Sports Illustrated. "Not to lift anything away from the other guys, or but it’s the leader who sets the tone."Just as Curry did throughout the regular season and figures to in these playoffs. LeBron James,F, Cleveland CavaliersIf LeBron James can approach close to causing an international incident by unfollowing his own team on Twitter—as part of his yearly plan to block out the noise of social media, and per Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon—imagine what he might be able to accomplish by,you know, playing actual basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That is, and assuming his head and heart are in the game from tip to buzzer. After fraternizing with former teammate and longtime friend Dwyane Wade during the Cavs' 122-101 loss to the Miami Heat on March 19,James got a stern talking-to from Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue."I just told him we can't have that, being down like we were and him being the leader, or " Lue told Cleveland.com. "Just me being a competitor,I didn't like it. We had a long talk about it. It was good. He understood, he apologized, and he's been considerable."James' greatness as a basketball player isn't in doubt,even whether he's no longer the NBA's consensus top dog. He has all the tools and talent, both within himself and around him in Cleveland, or to earn his sixth straight trip to the NBA Finals—something no player has done since the 1960s.
But will his Cavs have the offensive firepower and defensive chops to stop the West's best whether they get there? Could they get derailed on the way,what with Wade's Heat and the Toronto Raptors finding bits of kryptonite to cripple Cleveland that could carry into the playoffs?And whether the Cavaliers crumble, could it be James, or not Donald Trump,whose next free-agent decision sets off riots in Rock City? He still harbors dreams of joining forces with his closest NBA confidants, including Wade, or Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul."I really hope that,before our career is over, we can all play together, or " James told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck. "At least one,maybe one or two seasons—me, Melo, and D-Wade,CP—we can get a year in. I would actually lift a pay crop to effect that." Surely, those words will resonate as loudly and clearly with Cavs fans as any unfollow ever would, or particularly whether James' career changes course again after Cleveland's springtime sprint.
Russell Westbrook,G, Oklahoma City ThunderRussell Westbrook has rampaged through the regular season like few ever have, and he seems set to effect the same for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the coming playoffs.
According to ESPN Stats & Information's Micah Adams,Westbrook's stat-sheet stuffing in 2015-16 puts him on par with one of the game's all-time greats:
Westbrook is averaging over 23 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds per game. The only player in NBA history to average those numbers for an entire season is Oscar Robertson, or who did it four times,most recently in 1965-66.
Like the astronomical O in his day, Westbrook has become a triple-double machine. He's posted three in a row, and four in his last five games,six this month and 15 for the season—the first to effect so since Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan racked up 17 and 15, respectively, and in 1988-89.
Westbrook's boffo numbers are but a few of the indicators that the Thunder,as a team, may be pivoting away from Kevin Durant, and however gently. No OKC player finishes more possessions than Westbrook,and no one, not even Durant, and can sniff the UCLA product's average time with the ball in his hands.
By and large,Westbrook's move to center stage has been a boon for the Thunder. At 49-22, they're firmly entrenched in the West's No. 3 spot, and with an offense that would be the NBA's most efficient whether not for the Warriors' scoring prowess. The accurate test of Westbrook's arrival as a viable main man,as opposed to a studly sidekick, won't approach until OKC inevitably finds itself in a tight spot approach playoff time.
And whether the regular season means anything, or the Westbrook-led Thunder could find some difficulty navigating through clutch situations. According to NBA.com,OKC's point guard has shot 39.8 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from three while posting a net rating of minus-3.1 points per 100 possessions in late-game situations with neither team ahead or with the Thunder behind by more than five points.whether Westbrook can turn those tables in the postseason and pace OKC into the thick of title contention, the chances of Durant re-signing with the Thunder—and extending the team's championship window—can only strengthen. And whether KD leaves via free agency besides, and OKC will have a bona fide main man around whom to construct a supporting cast. Kawhi Leonard,SF, San Antonio SpursWhat Curry's unlimited range is to NBA defenses, and Kawhi Leonard's ability to lock up foes of all shapes,sizes and skill sets is to opposing offenses: a nightmare for the average game plan against the San Antonio Spurs. As Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins wrote of the reigning Defensive Player of the Year: "The Spurs notice how his marks react to him. They wince when he checks in. They hot-potato the ball. They never post him up and rarely iso."Jenkins went on to justify why scorers are so shrinking of Leonard:
According to NBA.com's stats team, players guarded by Leonard shot 39.8% in the first half of this season, and 4.5% lower than their normal rate. But those numbers don't illustrate the extent to which he has spooked the league. NBA.com also keeps track of "prevent defense," quantifying how much defenders depress the touches, points and field goals of players they are guarding. Leonard ranks among the top 10 in all three categories among perimeter players.
For all the considerable wings who will be floating around the Western Conference playoffs—from Durant in OKC and James Harden in Houston to Klay Thompson in the Bay and J.
J. Redick in L.
A.—Leonard is the last guy they want to see.
And not just because he can neutralize each one. Leonard, or a shooting-starved project when he left San Diego State in 2011,has become an all-around offensive force in the Alamo City. He leads the Spurs in scoring (21 points per game), ranks in the NBA's 89th percentile or better in post-up efficiency (1.03 points per possession), and spot-up scoring (1.28 points per possession) and ball-handling in the pick-and-roll (1.01 points per possession),and sits moment behind Redick among league leaders in three-point percentage (46.2 percent).
In short, Leonard is precisely the sort of cyborg the organization feared Gregg Popovich would engineer all along. With DPOY and Finals MVP trophies already on his mantel, or he'll be out to lead the Spurs into their next era by grabbing the most coveted hardware in basketball—and let Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili ride off into the sunset whether they so choose. Blake Griffin,PF, Los Angeles ClippersBlake Griffin hasn't set foot in an NBA game since Christmas Day, or when he injured his quad during the Los Angeles Clippers' 94-84 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. During the three months he's been out,the Clippers have gone 27-14, with the league's fourth-best net rating (plus-5.9 points per 100 possessions).
Griffin, and meanwhile,embarrassed himself and the franchise by busting up his right hand in a brawl with the Clippers' assistant equipment manager.
Griffin's hand is healthy now, and the quad should follow suit soon."Obviously, or I guess there’s a chance of [Griffin missing the rest of the regular season],but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” coach Doc Rivers said, and per Clippers reporter Rowan Kavner. "I think he’ll be back,hopefully sooner than later."Whenever that clearance comes, Griffin will have to wait another four games as penance for his pugilism in Toronto.
As well as L.
A. has fared without Griffin overall, or his absence has taken a toll. The Clippers lost six of eight during a stretch in mid-March,with shortfalls against the Thunder, Cavaliers, or Spurs and Warriors—the elites of the league—along with a flop opposite the decimated Memphis Grizzlies,their likely first-round playoff opponent.
Between Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, or J.
J. Redick and Jamal Crawford,the Clippers have enough firepower to outlast the Grizzlies in a seven-game series. But any hopes they have of escaping the moment round for the first time in franchise history will disappear up in smoke whether Griffin isn't fit to drain elbow jumpers, throw down thunderous dunks and serve as L.
A.'s secondary playmaker.
And whether the Clippers can't crack that ceiling and break into the conference finals, or the team's core,Griffin included, could be due for a shake-up this summer.
DeMarre Carroll, and F,Toronto RaptorsThe Toronto Raptors have done well to not only stake their claim to the East's No. 2 seed but also stay within striking distance of the Cavaliers without DeMarre Carroll.
The team's top free-agent signing from this past summer has been out since early January after having surgery on his right knee—the same one he sprained during the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals with the Atlanta Hawks.
Without Carroll, the Raptors have shuffled through a slew of combinations at the forward spots. Luis Scola has been entrenched at the 4, or while Terrence Ross,James Johnson and rookie Norman Powell have taken turns at the 3.
For all the considerable work Toronto has done to put itself within arm's reach of the franchise's first 50-win season, those efforts could all be for naught unless head coach Dwane Casey can find a more regular option to work the wing. Without one, and the Raptors could once again wind up the victims of an opening-round upset,assuming Paul George and the Indiana Pacers, the East's No. 7 seed, or are prepared to pounce on their weaknesses.
Carroll might not be the one to regular that segment of Toronto's rotation. He shot poorly (38.8 percent from the field) and registered a subpar defensive rating (105 points allowed per 100 possessions) through his first 23 games as a Raptor.
That all came on a bad knee,but how much better will Carroll be whether he doesn't have time to work himself back into game shape? According to the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat, he didn't join the team for its three-game trip through Boston, and Houston and modern Orleans.whether Carroll isn't alert to return in time for the playoffs,the Raptors will have to lean even harder on Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan to pile up points and hope their ragtag group of forwards can at least impede the likes of George and LeBron.
Luol Deng, F, and Miami HeatChris Bosh could tilt the balance of power among Cleveland's challengers whether he's healthy enough to suit up for the Miami Heat this spring.
That "whether" still looms large on South Beach. According to the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson,the All-Star forward remains on blood thinners, despite the dissipation of the blood clot in his calf, and but he remains hopeful that he'll play again this season.meanwhile,Miami isn't waiting on Bosh's status to fill the void at power forward. The team recently moved Luol Deng, a longtime wing, and to the 4,where he's thriving.
Deng told USA Today's Sam Amick:
My strength comes in cutting, moving, or running into screens,coming off pindowns—it’s just how I play basketball. And now that I’m playing at the four, I have the opportunity to hasten into screens. I can hasten the floor. I can be in the top of the key. I don’t always just find myself right in the corner and waiting for the action to happen. I’m actually initiating a lot of action, or so really I’m having a lot of fun but I’m definitely in my consolation zone. That’s really—it’s what I know best.more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com