Marquee Matchup of Playoffs' Second Round Has Star Power to Spare
OKLAHOMA CITY - Before the celebration had stopped in the Los Angeles Clippers ' locker room Saturday night, as the joy of vanquishing the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series still coursed among the players, a scouting report of the Oklahoma City Thunder sat in each of player's cubicle.
Coach Doc Rivers told his players the binders were their homework: Take them and read. The Thunder, who a few hours earlier had won a seventh game of their own, against Memphis, also had to be quick studies.
Less than 48 hours later, the Clippers had traveled here and were tipping off a series against the Thunder that, given the uncommon tension and riveting play of the first round of the playoffs, held the promise of delivering even more.
If Brooklyn is able to reprise its regular-season success against Miami, that series could add a chapter to the rivalry between LeBron James and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Whether Indiana can regain its footing against promising Washington is a question that makes their series worth watching. And it is quite possible that Portland's Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge can give San Antonio more than a headache, but a real test.
But what is widely viewed as the marquee matchup of the four conference semifinals is this one, which can deliver unmatched star power, interesting subplots and teams that not only appear evenly matched, but also are no strangers to controversy. Of course, questions about Kevin Durant's reliability and the annual debate about Russell Westbrook's shot selection are trifling matters compared with what the Clippers have dealt with after their owner, Donald Sterling, was recorded making racist remarks that prompted the N.B.A. to ban him for life.
The series has three of the league's most marketable players: Durant and the Clippers' Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, each of whom receives great exposure during the playoffs as a centerpiece of national marketing campaigns.
Westbrook may not be quite at their level as a pitchman, but he is still an attraction on and off the court, with his iconoclastic fashion sense rarely ignored, either by cameras or commentators.
For Game 1, at least, this is also a city that may not have such an antagonistic relationship toward Griffin and Paul, two players who often draw the ire of opposing players and crowds.
Each has a special place here: Griffin after becoming a star in his hometown and then also down the road at the University of Oklahoma, and Paul for being a leading member of the New Orleans Hornets when they relocated for a season in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is unlikely that a small market like Oklahoma City, if it had not served as a temporary home for the Hornets, would have gotten another team, as it did when Clay Bennett purchased the Seattle SuperSonics and moved them here.
Besides the connection of place and their standing as stars, Westbrook, Durant, Paul and Griffin are conjoined in another area: They have not won a championship.
If that is a burden, it is placed mostly on the shoulders of Durant and Paul. Durant, the recent 'Mr. Unreliable' headline in the newspaper The Oklahoman notwithstanding, has at least taken the Thunder to the N.B.A. championship series, and had them on track last season until Westbrook's knee injury derailed them in the conference semifinals. He is also only 27, entering his prime.
Paul, 30, has advanced this far in the playoffs only twice before, losing in a Game 7 at home against San Antonio when he played for New Orleans in 2008, and being swept by the Spurs two years ago, when he was playing on one good leg.
The connections between the teams, though, are not restricted to the fraternity of star players. There are others with a history.
One of Griffin's signature dunks came two years ago against Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who was one of Rivers's favorite players in Boston. Darren Collison, the Clippers' reserve point guard, is sure to spend some time guarding Westbrook, his understudy at U.C.L.A.
Paul and Derek Fisher, the reserve Thunder guard, are the two most recent players union presidents, and each has had to cope with a crisis in that job: Fisher during a contentious lockout, and Paul during the current Sterling scandal.
Oklahoma City forward Caron Butler was a key cog in the Clippers' rebuilding, one of the first free agents signed after the lockout ended in 2011. He helped convince Paul that the Clippers were contenders by accepting a trade there, and he remained a strong personality in the locker room even as his playing time dwindled.
So, in some ways, when the Clippers were sent home with homework, and the Thunder studied the same, it probably did not require too much work.
Post a Comment for "Marquee Matchup of Playoffs' Second Round Has Star Power to Spare"