Thanks a lot Clippers!
Drinks are on the house from your friendly neighbors up north...
Winners Tonight (West, anyone who wishes to post on the East, be my guest... I am calling for Detroit's spring to be doubly miserable (Red Wings, Pistons) and can easily see Orlando knock out the Pistons):
1) Dallas: avoid Lakers in Round 1 (and Round 2 for that matter). Also, clinched home court advantage over the Kings in an "expected" 2nd Round Matchup.
2) Sacramento: Wanted to see the Kings beat the Jazz, the Spurs beat the Mavs, the Lakers beat the Warriors, and the Clippers beat the Blazers. If I were told 3 of the 4 would happen, I'd say the Clippers would lose and the Lakers would be on our side of the bracket... good thing I was wrong! It is NOT automatic the Kings will be back in the Western Conference Finals. Utah plays them tough, but I do think the Kings advance (despite Harpring and Kirilenko stepping up). Now, Dallas showed in the final regular season game vs the Kings n Arco they can win and having home court (they will dispatch the Blazers in no more than 6 games) could be imposing. Still, the Kings are the odds on favorite to be the team which survives the Mavs-Kings-Blazers-Jazz side of the bracket...
Losers Tonight:
1) T'Wolves: I really feel bad for them. In less than 3 hours, the euphoria of having home court vs the Blazers (which would have seen the T'Wolves advance to the 2nd Round for the first time ever) was replaced by the utter disappointment of the Lakers being their opponent. The Clippers will get 4 ass whuppings by Minnesota next year for not laying down. The T'Wolves season ended tonight.
2) Spurs: Could've coasted into the Western Conference Finals with the Suns, then Wolves/Blazers winner. Now, the Suns will lose to the Spurs, but they can and should win 2 games, if not more. And then the Lakers.... should be a brutal slugfest. Spurs' steamroll just ran out with tonight's events.
3) Suns: Sure, even though they won't beat the Spurs, now their road to the NBA Finals includes the Spurs, then the Lakers, then the Mavs or Kings. If they were in the East, they could make it to the Finals. Shoot, if the Rockets were in the East they might make it to the Finals too.
4) Blazers: They just went from a very winnable series vs the Wolves to a near impossible matchup vs Dallas. Another 1st round exit now awaits.
--------
Unchanged:
1) Lakers: they're the champs and as such, it need not matter which side of the bracket they were on. They should be favored vs the Mavs, the Kings, and even the Spurs.
2) Jazz: they were to face the Kings anyway, regardless of what happened tonight. You could argue they were winners because the Lakers left the bracket and the Blazers now reside here. Although, for the Jazz to make it to the Western Conference Finals, they need to beat the 59 win Kings and likely, the 60 win Mavs. Not exactly an easy route, even without the Lakers there.