WASHINGTON, 22 April 2006 — The San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons appear destined for an NBA championship rematch but steering through the postseason maze can be perilous.
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili knows the pitfalls of looking ahead this time of year.
“We are feeling good about ourselves,” Ginobili told the San Antonio Express-News. “But the playoffs are a whole different thing. The atmosphere changes in one second.” The 16-team playoffs begin this weekend with some intriguing match-ups and alluring plotlines.
San Antonio has won the championship two of the last three years, with Detroit claiming the other title. Detroit is champing at the bit after the Spurs’ four-games-to-three victory over the Pistons in last season’s final.
“We’ve been waiting to get to the playoffs since the last game of last season,” Pistons guard Rip Hamilton told the Detroit News. “So now to get the opportunity to play, we’re all excited.” The Spurs open with the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference, with Game One this evening at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Each is making an eighth straight trip the playoffs but has never faced each other in the postseason. While San Antonio rode the league’s second-best defense to a 63-13 record, the Kings used the acquisition of Ron Artest to make a late-season run to the playoffs.
Over in the East, Detroit faces sub-.500 Milwaukee (40-42) in the first round. After losing coach Larry Brown in the off-season, new skipper Flip Saunders the Pistons responded by posting the league’s best mark at 64-18.
LeBron James makes his first playoff appearance when the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Washington Wizards. He has been in the league only three years but many feel James will have to make his mark in the playoffs to become a true star.
Washington (42-40), however, is hungry for playoff success and knocked off the Cavaliers (50-32) in three of four games this season.
NBA scoring champion Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers (45-37) are back in the playoffs, facing the highest scoring team, the Phoenix Suns (54-28).
One of the more interesting matchups has the New Jersey Nets (49-33) facing the Indiana Pacers (41-41). The Nets cooled off somewhat down the stretch while the Pacers’ 27-14 home record is one league’s best.
In other best-of-seven first-round series, Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat face red-hot Chicago; the Los Angeles Clippers, in the postseason for the first time since 1996, battle the Denver Nuggets; and the Memphis Grizzlies, looking for its first playoff victory, takes on MVP candidate Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.
