Both George Hill and Dejaun Blair have potential. Although, it will be interesting to see if the Spurs are still a playoff team after the Duncan era. I mean, they have won games this year without the 20 and 10 production from Duncan.

Yeah he's not putting up 20 and 10 anymore but who needs that when you've got Bonner!?  I kid.  But seriously he still sets the tone defensively for this team and gives them a mental toughness both on the court and in the locker room.  His presence will definitely be missed regardless of who they get to fill his stat sheet.

As a California native (NorCal), I am a Lakers and Trailblazers fan (due to a decade living in Oregon).

Well, Sam Bowie 2 AKA Greg Oden is out again for the year...Oregon reaction from the blazersedge website is a mix of apathy, denial, and relief. Greg Oden outside of basketball is the nicest, nerdiest guy you would ever find. That being said, Oden is a bust and Portland is holding onto him as a restricted free agent in an effort for a potential super deal possibly involving Oden and Brandon Roy for Chris Paul or another elite PG, which is the position that has always been the achilles heel of the Trailblazers in the playoffs.

Even if Portland makes ito the playoffs, I don't see them getting out of the first round. They have a great core in LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Miller, and Nicholas Batum, but their offense with Brandon Roy involved is pass Roy the ball, while every Trailblazer on the court watches his iso plays. Having followed the Trailblazers, Roy was an all-star, elite top 5 player back in 2007, but now he is a hindrance to the development of the team. The offense is built around Roy with too many iso plays and not enough off the ball movement.

The Lakers are looking better than last year. Steve Blake fits in perfectly in the triangle offense because he is not as pressured to be an outside 3 point threat as he was when he was in Portland. Matt Barnes like Ron Artest was picked up for his defense in the playoffs. I don't expect Matt Barnes to score 20 to 30 every night, but I do expect him to punk and shut down other players, flagrantly if need be.

I don't think anyone in the West will pose much of a challenge to the Lakers. The Thunder and Rockets are the only teams who can if they get hot. The Jazz are the same ole Sloan-style Jazz where they have all the right pieces, but way too much predictability.

The East is a crapshoot between Boston, Orlando and Miami. I predict Boston to go all the way to Finals unless Pierce, Garnett, or Allen has a late season injury. Orlando doesn't have enough consistency from Rashard Lewis, Mickael Pietrus or Jameer Nelson, but they can beat anybody if all click at the same time. Miami is not to be underestimated, yet I just don't see them overcoming either Boston or Orlando due to LeBron James' tendency to take over ball games and try to score 80.

If Bynum is healthy come playoff time, no team can stand a chance. Boston likes to remind us Lakers fans that Kendrick Perkins was injured in Game 7 last year, well the same can be said for Bynum the entire playoffs. If Bynum is 80% or better, the Lakers 3-peat.

My personal feeling for Oden is apathy.  It just didn't work, time to move on.

You think the Rockets can challenge LA?  I think there is a possibility the Rockets don't even make the post season.  The Thunder could challenge, and if the stars aligned maybe Utah, though I don't see anyone really being a legitimate threat to LA come playoff time.  I think at the end of this year people may start having conversations about where this team ranks on the all time Laker list.  They are THAT talented.

I'm not sure what you mean by Utah being too predictable though.  Are you implying that the Jazz have run the "Flex" offense for over 20 years with Sloan?  While that is true, the very nature of the Flex makes it tough to defend.  There are some great breakdowns on the internet about how it works (as well as Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense).  You should check them out if you love basketball.  Fascinating reads.  Why do you think Utah is usually around the top of the league in FG%?  They get good looks and layups.  You could say the same thing about the "Triangle" that Phil Jackson has run forever.  It's predictable as far as yeah, you know they are going to run it, but that doesn't mean each offensive set ends in the same play.  Jackson has been great at getting the players he needs to run the system correctly and that is one of the main reason he has so many freaking rings.  Also he's had Michael Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq to thank as well. (-:

I've played basketball most my life (still do) and love the nuts and bolts side of the game.  Seeing a great back pick, or a fantastic read on defense to "help and recover", or watching guys with great court awareness so that they are in the right spots at the right time gets me excited.  I think that's why I prefer the NBA game to the College game.  The NBA guys are so much more talented and it's a more physical style of ball.

The one thing I dislike, however, is that the league is built around stars.  Now before I get flamed for what I'm about to say, I don't mean that the NFL and MLB (or any professional sport)  don't have stars, or even that people don't come out just to watch their stars.  What I mean is that the NBA is the only league where stars get blatant "star treatment."  They get calls based on their name.  I don't see that in MLB or NFL.  Maybe it's just the nature of the game that lends itself to this problem.  Basketball calls are much harder to determine and there is more "gray" area than the two aforementioned sports.  The refs have a far greater impact on determining the outcome of a game.  I'm not claiming there is a small market conspiracy or anything (that's a joke theory) but that it dampens the excitment when a defender isn't allowed to get physical with a star because he's a star.

Sorry my post was so long.  End Rant.

Also you cant forget that dejuan blair has no ACL, now thats a pretty good advantage if u ask me lol

Thunder beat Celtics in Boston AND no Kevin Durant!! =O!

I can't believe we lost to a Durantless Thunder that had 2-18 FG in the last quarter...we can't suck that much

heat are 8-4

beat the bobcasts, grizzlies are next

Everyone has their off days.

Yeah, but this was a very winnable game. I wouldn't say much if we had lost in OKC against them with Durant, but we won that (and by quite a margin), and then to lose this game that was so served on a platter...We missed a lot of FT that should've given us the game, Big Baby specially as he missed 4 FT in the 4th

At least we have an easy game on Sunday against Toronto, that should get us back on track.