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Get to know your Western Conference playoff subplots

Jerome Miron / USA TODAY Sports

Every year's postseason brings with it a series of tasty subplots, some brand new and some echoes of old, to add spice and give context and make every single series its own unique snowflake. With the playoffs beginning this weekend, we wanted to catch you up to date on some of the most relevant storylines--and maybe a couple that aren't terribly pressing, but are fun anyway--bearing on this year's first round matchups.

You've already gotten to know your Eastern Conference playoff subplots. Now for the West...

(1) SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS. (8) DALLAS MAVERICKS
Dirk vs. Duncan

Plenty of other players of note in this series, but when you have two future Hall-of-Famers, all-timers at (roughly) the same position squaring off, they're invariably gonna get the headlines, and rightly so. We went behind the numbers on the matchup elsewhere, but suffice to say, Dirk and Timmy have their fair share of history, both with each other and the rest of the league. Getting to see them add to their respective legacies against one another, while still playing at such a high level this late into their careers, should be one of the coolest things about this first round. 

Texas Forever

Spurs vs. Mavs--the only intrastate rivals playing in this first round, for whatever that's worth--is a rivalry with enough juice this century that itgets its own sub-section on the Mavs' wiki page. They've met in the playoffs five times from 2001 to 2010, with the Spurs winning the series three times, including in their only Conference Finals meeting in '03. They've made for some dramatic, memorable basketball, especially in the '06 West semifinals, considered one of the best non-Finals series in recent history. A lot of the faces have changed over the years, but enough are the same--Dirk and the Mavs' big three, mostly--to give the rivalry a feeling of continuity that's pretty rare for today's NBA.

Threes and FGs

The Spurs and the Mavs are #1 and #2 in the league in three-point percentage, respectively, and also in field goals made. The ball going in the basket will be a recurring theme in this series. 

DeJuan Returns

After playing his first four seasons in San Antonio as a second-round draft pick that flitted in and out of San Antonio's rotation, seeming like a crucial pickup for some stretches and then a total after-thought at others, DeJuan Blair became a free agent last off-season and signed with the Dallas Mavericks...where he's seemed like a crucial pickup for some stretches and then a total after-thought at others. 

Hopefully DeJuan can find a role for himself in this homecoming series, but with coach Rick Carlisle's reliance on well-compensated veteran center Samuel Dalembert and the emergence of long offense dynamo Brandan Wright as his backup, he might need some help to even get the chance. 

Other Shared Players of Note

Michael Finley and Avery Johnson, who both played large roles on both sides of the rivalry in the '00s, as well as Dennis Rodman, Drew Gooden, Josh Howard and Steve Novak.

Remember This Game?

Or How About This Game?

This Game Had Its Moments Too

***

(2) OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER VS. (7) MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Rubber Match!

The Thunder and Grizzlies will be meeting in the playoffs for the third time in their respective histories, and the third time in just the last four postseasons. Their previous two meetings both came in the second round, with the Thunder outlasting the Rudy Gay-less Grizz in a seven-game classic in 2011, and then the Grizz getting their revenge against the Russel Westbrook-less Thunder in a five-game upset last year, so this one will be for the edge in the series battle--with both teams at full strength, even. 

By the way, if Memphis does outlast the Thunder in this one, they'll likely face the Clippers in the next round, and then the Spurs after that--both of whom the Grizzlies have faced twice over the last three playoffs, and both of whom the Grizz have split their two matchups with. Could be a very rubbery postseason on Beale Street. 

The Mike Miller That Got Away

When amnestied by the Heat last summer, Mike Miller was pursued primarily by two teams in free agency: The Grizzlies and the Thunder. Miller, who'd had his most successful years in the NBA with Memphis before being traded to Minnesota (as part of the infamous Kevin Love / OJ Mayo swap), opted to return to Elvis country, leaving OKC one veteran shooter short. They'd eventually fill the role with Caron Butler, but given how good Miller has been to finish the season, and how surprisingly durable he's been all year, you've got to think they regret missing out on the sharpshooter.

Will Miller continue to haunt the Thunder with a couple big shots in this series? Will he lose his shoes yet again in the process? After the last two Heat playoff runs, you'd be foolish to bet against either.

Z-Bo vs. Perk

You guys remember this one, right? 

And with noted and willing scrapper Steven Adams added to the frontcourt on the Thunder's side, you can bet there's gonna be a part two of some sort between the big men in this series. Expect some etra security in the hallways and out by the buses at the FedEx Center this Spring, just to be on the safe side.

UConn Over Everything

The national champs are weirdly well-represented on this Thunder roster that includes three separate generations of noted alums in Caron Butler, Hasheem Thabeet and Jeremy Lamb . Might be a bit of a sore subject among the Grizzlies roster, which includes a UK alum (Tayshaun Prince), a Florida alum (Miller), and even a Michigan State alum (Randolph), the three teams last vanquished by the Huskies on the way to their fourth national championship. A subtle subplot, but one that could be grounds for a good deal of trash-talking just the same.

Shared Players of Note

Thabeet (who was drafted by the Grizzlies and traded away right before they got good), as well as Chucky Atkins, Ronnie Brewer and Earl Watson. "Of note" is obviously a little generous here.

Remember This Game?

And This Was a Pretty Good Shot

***

(3) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS VS. (6) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
The Chapel Series

As it will heretofore be known as if I have anything to do with it, based on that ridiculous pre-Christmas incident where the Clippers declined to share pre-game Chapel services with the Warriors--on Christmas day, no less. Many of us NBA fans probably didn't even know that pre-game chapel was a thing, now we're wondering if we should be sending a reporter there just in case a brawl breaks out.

The "Next Great NBA Rivalrly"?

That's what Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated predicted preseason that Clippers-Warriors would become, and so far that's looking like a pretty great call. In addition to the Chapel nonsense, this series has been responsible for any number of on-court scuffles, technicals, ejections, hard fouls, and even some sniping off-the-court comments, like Klay Thompson recently calling Blake Griffin out for flopping and throwing them 'bows.

And that's just in four games this season!

The crazy thing is that as much interpersonal drama as this series has given us in 2013-14, it hasn't actually given us a ton of great, close basketball--of their four season matchups, the only one with a final in the single digits was the Christmas game. For it to truly be the next great NBA rivalry, we need some more dramatic finishes this postseason, too.

The Two Worst Franchises in the West

Both the Clippers and Warriors have been around in some capacity since at least the '70s, but neither of them have even made the Conference Finals since then--1976 was the last appearance, when the defending-champ Warriors went down to the Suns in seven. Since then, the two franchises have been just about the models for how not to run an NBA team, with disastrous ownership situations, crippling player personnel decisions, and one on-court catastrophe after another for decades and decades.

These days, however, they're the cream of the Cali crop, with both the Lakers and Kings trying to dig themselves out of the cellar while the Clippers and Warriors pop champagne up top. It'd be incalculably huge to either team to actually make it to the Conference Finals and beyond this season, but they gotta get past the other first.

Doc vs. Mark

Doc Rivers and Mark Jackson have about as much in common as two head coachces can have, both being former starting point guards who went through successful runs in TV announcing before assuming their current head-coaching gigs. The two actually met head-to-head a number of teams throughout their playing careers--21 times, most with Doc on the Hawks and Mark on the Knicks, with Jackson holding the 12-9 lead in the matchup--but have yet to meet in the playoffs. 

Also worth noting that Rivers was essentially brought to the Knicks in the '92 off-season to be Jackson's replacement, as Doc was routed to NY in the same deal that sent Mark out of the Big Apple--and to the Clippers, appropriately enough. There's gotta be a little residual saltiness from that.

Shared Players of Note

High degrees of overlap among the players in this one, with the Clippers' Matt Barnes being part of the famous We Believe Warriors of '07, while current Dub Steve Blake took a turn as a Clipper about a half-decade ago. Antawn Jamison and Stephen Jackson, both of whom had brief Clipper runs this season, also had their most fruitful years in Golden State, while We Believe captain Baron Davis infamously bolted Golden State for the Clips in the '08 off-season, getting traded to Cleveland just as the team started getting good.

Remember These Simultaneous Performances (from Chris Paul and Stephen Curry, somehow neither of whom we have yet mentioned while discussing this series)?

***

(4) HOUSTON ROCKETS VS. (5) PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
The Clyde Bowl

Another series with one defining co-alum, this one is all Clyde Drexler, arguably the greatest player in Portland Trail Blazers history, who nonetheless won his only championship with (and currently broadcasts for) the Houston Rockets. Expect to see and hear a lot of the Glide over this one--which, considering how dominating MJ is over the entire Eastern Conference bracket of the playoffs, seems only fair.

Once-a-Decade.

Since the '80s, these two teams have matched up in the first round exactly once in each ten-year span--in '87, in '94, and most recently, in '09--with the Rockets winning all three times. When it comes to the playoffs, history is already sorta against the Blazers, who haven't won a single first-round series in six tries since 2000, but against the Rockets, it appears to be particularly foreboding.

Lillard vs. Beverley

As many interesting players and matchups as there will be in this series, the one-on-one that will have the focus of most will be that between point guards Damian Lillard and Patrick Beverley. Lillard is probably the most exciting postseason debut being made out West, as the Portland PG has been responsible for as many big shots and big plays in big moments this regular season as anyone in the league. 

But we already know what Beverley can do in the postseason--intimidate, infuriate, and uh, actually injure, and his ability to feed off his opponent's intensity and actually channel it against him should be pretty fascinating when applied to a badass like Lillard. You don't want to say that this series will end up going as this matchup goes, necessarily, but it'll have a hell of a bearing.

More THREEEEEES
 

Ever noticed how players seem to have weirdly inflated rebound totals when these two teams face each other? That's because they're getting off shots in LMFAO-numbers, particularly from beyond the arc, where the Rockets and Blazers rank #1 and #3 (respectively) in three-pointers attempted, both hoisting over 2000 each for the season. They make a bunch, but they miss a bunch more, and that's how by the end of the series, Terrence Jones may end up looking like Moses Malone. 

T-Rob

The Rockets weren't the first team to give up on top-five draft pick Thomas Robinson by the end of his rookie season, but they were the most recent, and they're the one he'll be playing in the first round of these playoffs with his new team, the Blazers. T-Rob might even end up being something a key in this one, since if there's rebounds to go around in the series, you can better believe he'll be grabbing a whole bunch of 'em:  Robinson's 12.7 rebounds per 36 minutes still ranks highest on Portland's roster, and third-highest in this entire series. 

Shared Players of Note

Scottie Pippen (forgot about that, didn't you?), Bonzi Wells and Robert Reid, while Rick Adelman took his turn coaching both. Interestingly, the Rockets' Omer Asik was originally drafted by the Blazers but traded on draft night, while the Blazers' Batum was originally drafted by the Rockets, though also dealt that same night. And the previously mentioned Rockets Hall-of-Fame big man Moses Malone was drafted by the Blazers out of High School, but ultimately traded before even playing a single game in Portland. 

Remember This Regular-Season Classic?

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