We just witnessed one of the greatest first round match-ups in NBA Playoffs history.
Game seven of the Spurs-Clippers playoff series had it all: scintillating basketball, officiating controversy and an incredible last-second winner from Chris Paul.
Take a moment to enjoy it once again.
A fitting end to an incredible series.
Yet in a few years, we probably won’t look back and admire the Spurs for going blow-for-blow against one of the best teams in the league, only to be beaten by a piece of individual magic.
No, this series will be remembered for the fact that the NBA champions were eliminated in the first round for the first time since 2011-12.
And when the contracts of the NBA’s best-ever power forward Tim Duncan and long-time sidekick Manu Ginobili expire in the summer, it could be the end of a dynasty.
No fan of basketball would have wanted it to end this way. Expecting a repeat their title heroics – or even for a third Finals trip in three seasons – was perhaps asking too much. But the Spurs-Clippers series was too good for the first round. Surely teams of this quality should not be meeting before the conference semi-final.
Blame the NBA, and one of its most ridiculous rules.
The Portland Trail Blazers sealed a guaranteed top-four seeding in the Western Conference by virtue of winning the Northwest Division – statistically the second-worst division in the league (only Atlantic Division teams averaged fewer wins).
The 51-win Trail Blazers owned inferior records to both the Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies, who also won 55 games. The Blazers were roundly handled by the Tennessee team in the first round.
Had the Western Conference been seeded by record only, injury-hit Portland would have begun the playoffs in the sixth seed with a match-up against the Clippers. The Spurs would have finished fourth and faced Memphis.
It’s impossible to say whether Duncan and Co would have beaten the Grizzlies over seven games. They split the regular season series 2-2. However, San Antonio and LA both rolled into the playoffs with nine wins from their last 10 games. Memphis limped home 5-5.
Either way, these are the match-ups that the Spurs and Clippers deserved.
It is something that should be fixed immediately. Keep the banners for divisional winners by all means, but don’t let it affect the integrity of an 82-game season.
Many NBA fans would agree that sending the top eight teams from each conference is not perfect and that the league should send the top 16 teams of the regular season to the playoffs, regardless of geography. This debate will rage on, with no solution any time soon.
Until then, this magnificent seven-game contest should serve as the ideal motivation for NBA commissioner Adam Silver to update this ludicrous law on divisional winners.
