DPA/Los Angeles


Defending champions San Antonio Spurs and the star-studded Los Angeles Clippers are the two hottest teams as the NBA playoffs top off on the weekend.
But one of them will be eliminated before the end of April.
Such is life in the unforgiving Western Conference, where seven teams won at least 50 games and could hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy - or get bounced in the first round.
“It’s nuts, but it’s the West,” said Clippers superstar forward Blake Griffin, whose team hosts the Spurs on Sunday night.
The playoffs begin today with four games, including the league-best Golden State Warriors hosting the New Orleans Pelicans.
They continue tomorrow with four more best-of-seven series openers, including superstar LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers hosting the upstart Boston Celtics in an Eastern Conference series and the Spurs-Clippers matchup, the best of the first round.
The Clippers (56-26) won 14 of their last 15 games - including their final seven - to climb from sixth to third in the West. The Spurs (55-27) won 11 in a row to jump all the way to second before at loss at New Orleans in their season finale dropped them to sixth.
“It’s a good spot to be in - better than sixth, I guess,” Griffin said. “Now we’ve just got to focus on winning a playoff series.”
Even with home court advantage, that won’t be easy against the Spurs, who have reached the NBA Finals the last two years, winning their fifth championship last year.
Both teams are red-hot and split their four regular-season meetings, each winning once on the road.
“We have been on every possible road throughout the years,” Spurs star forward Tim Duncan said. “This will be another journey.”
Had the Spurs held the second seed, they would have had a somewhat easier matchup with German Dirk Nowitzki and the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks (50-32). Instead, Dallas will face MVP candidate James Harden and the Houston Rockets (56-26) in a West series starting today.
The Mavericks dropped three of four to their Texas rivals this season and have not won a playoff series since claiming the NBA title in 2011. The Rockets have lost in the first round each of the last two years.
“They are going to be a tough opponent,” Dallas centre Tyson Chandler said. “Harden, Dwight Howard, their aggression and the pressure that Harden puts on you defensively.”
The Mavericks-Rockets matchup closes out Saturday’s action, which begins with the fourth-seeded Toronto Raptors (49-33) hosting the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards (46-36) in the Eastern Conference.
That will be followed by the Warriors (67-15) and MVP candidate Stephen Curry entertaining the eighth-seeded Pelicans (45-37) and superstar forward Anthony Davis.
Under first-year coach Steve Kerr, Golden State matched the sixth-best record in NBA history. By beating San Antonio, New Orleans inched past Oklahoma City into the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
“The record’s crazy. We want to enjoy that,” Curry said. “But it’s playoff time. We have to be ready. We want to bottle up all that mojo we’ve had for the 82 games this season.”
Another East matchup Saturday has the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (41-41) visiting the third-seeded Chicago Bulls (50-32), who hope to have a healthy Derrick Rose in the postseason for the first time since 2011. Rose, who has a history of knee problems, sat out the second half of Wednesday’s season finale with left knee soreness.
“It is nothing serious at all,” Rose maintained. “Just being cautious and resting it.”
Sunday’s action begins with the seventh-seeded Celtics (40-42) visiting the second-seeded Cavaliers (53-29). Both teams have been playing well for a while, with Boston going 24-12 down the stretch and Cleveland winning 34 of its last 42.
“We’ve played the right way,” said James, who returned to Cleveland this season after four straight Finals trips and two championships with Miami. “We’ve stuck to our system and I think it’s built some great habits for us going into the postseason.”
The top-seeded Atlanta Hawks (60-22) host the eighth-seeded Brooklyn Nets (38-44), who backed into the East’s final playoff spot when Indiana lost at Memphis on Wednesday. Brooklyn lost all four regular-season matchups by an average of 17.3 points and appears to have its hands full with Atlanta and its constant-motion offense featuring four All-Stars.
Alsotoday, the fifth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies (55-27) host the fourth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers (51-31) in a battle of banged-up teams. Portland has the higher seed by winning the Northwest Division but Memphis - which swept the four-game season series - has home court via a better record.
The Trail Blazers are without injured guards Wesley Matthews (torn Achilles) and Arron Afflalo (shoulder) while forwards LaMarcus Aldridge (foot, thumb) and Nicolas Batum of France (knee) are nursing ailments. The Grizzlies could be without point guard Mike Conley (foot) and defensive demon Tony Allen (hamstring) while Spanish star center Marc Gasol has a sprained ankle.