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Get to know your Western Conference 2nd round subplots

Kirby Lee / 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 second round subplots. Now for the West...

(1) SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS. (5) PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

Offense!

No Wizards-Pacers-style slugfesting to be seen here. The Spurs and Blazers were two one of the best teams in the league this year at putting ball in basket, both rating in the league's top ten in points, assists, FT%, 3PT% and offensive rating. Only once did either of the two teams fail to crack 100 in the teams' four matchups this year--over which both teams won twice--and in one game towards the end of last year, the Blazers actually scored 136 in a game. Both teams move the ball well and shoot it even better, and it should be pretty entertaining to watch over the course of a whole series. 

Lillard vs. Parker, Aldridge vs. Duncan

These two teams are actually structured with pretty similar player roles and hierarchies, making for some darned interesting one-on-one matchups across the lineups. Of these, the two sexiest are no doubt at point guard (Damian Lillard vs. Tony Parker) and power forward (LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Tim Duncan), where two playoff vets who've long been the dominant playoff players at their positions look to fend off challenges from two increasingly playoff-tested up-and-comers coming for their respective spots. (And for what it's worth, Lillard has put up some of the best numbers of his career against San Antonio, averaging 26/5/6 on on 50/39/92% shooting in seven career games against the Spurs.) 

Can the Spurs' old guard hold off the Blazers' young guns for one more season? These two matchups will no doubt get the lions' share of the attention as we find out. 

The Memorial Day Miracle

These two teams faced off in the playoffs three times in the '90s, with Portland winning in the '90 semis and San Antonio enduring in the '93 first round and the '99 conference finals. The '90 series was undoubtedly the best of the three, a seven-gamer that climaxed with an overtime game seven, won by Portland on a Clyde Drexler and-two breakaway layup, but the most famous moment from the two teams' playoff history was undoubtedly 1999's Memorial Day Miracle.

The shot--hit by Sean Elliott to give San Antonio the late lead in Game Three of an eventual four-game sweep--endures because of its unlikeliness, with the Spurs trailing big early in the game, with Elliott just barely keeping his heels from landing out of bounds, and with Elliott an unlikely hero at all, given that he had recently undergone kidney transplant surgery. It was the signature moment of the Spurs' first championship run, and the reason why Elliott will likely never be fired as Spurs color announcer, no matter how long or loud the internet complains about him.

Global Games

The French national basketball team is exceptionally well represented in this series, with San Antonio's Tony Parker and Boris Diaw being two of the team's longest-tenured players, and Portland's Nic "The Nut-Puncher" Batum also getting in on the action for the last Olympics. Beyond L'Equipe de France, we practically have the entire international field covered, with Argentina (Manu Ginobili), Brazil (Tiago Splitter), Australia (Patty Mills and Aron Baynes), Great Britian (Joel Freeland), Spain (Victor Claver), Canada (Cory Joseph) and Italy (Marco Belinelli)--though incredibly, I don't think anyone on either team has played for the American team since Duncan hung it up after winning bronze a decade ago. 

Shared Players of Note

Spurs backup point guard and MIP candidate Patty Mills was in fact drafted by the Blazers, shuttling between Portland, the D-League and Australia for a couple years before finally finding his full-time NBA role with the Spurs. The many other players to log time for both franchises include Damon Stoudamire, Mario Elie, Mychal Thompson, Steve Smith, Derek Anderson, and potential series broadcaster Steve Kerr.

Remember This Game-Winner?

***

(2) OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER VS. (3) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

More Offense!

They're not the elite long-range shooters that the Spurs and Blazers are, but the Clippers and Thunder still find ways to get it in, rating 1st and 6th in Offensive Rating and 1st and 5th in points a game, respectively. Both teams rank in the top ten in field-goal percentage, both take and make a ton of free throws, and both push the ball at a top-ten pace. Both are also top-ten teams in defensive rating, but given that as with Spurs-Blazers, only once did either team fail to crack 100 in four games this season--with one game finishing with a 125-117 final--I'm gonna bet on POINTS to win out in this series.

You Can't Go Home Again

It's kind of a shame that Blake Griffin had to be from Oklahoma City, growing up there and playing college ball at OU, since by the end of this series, the Thunder fans are absolutely gonna despise Blake, if they don't already. Angeleno and UCLA alum Russell Westbrook doesn't tend to engender the same kind of visiting-arena animosity as Blake, but might end up experiencing a similar level of hometown hate if he ends up getting into it with Chris Paul or running under Jamal Crawford or something, which seems distinctly likely in this series. They'll love you guys again after you retire, probably, don't sweat it. 

The Unexpectedly Relevant Caron Butler Return

Remember how Caron Butler was the starting small forward for the Clippers the last two playoff runs? Well, after a super-circuitous path to Oklahoma City, he's back, and he's got an oblique new three-point celebration gesture.

The Clippers never did find a totally reliable replacement for Butler as the small-forward who can defend decently and reliably hit an open three-pointer--Jared Dudley, nope, Danny Granger, nope, Hedo Turkoglu, hahahaha---so it'll be interesting to see if Butler draining threes as a starter (!!) for the Thunder now comes back to haunt them a little. He's got championship experience, sorta.

The Stars Are Out Tonight

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Four of the consensus top ten players in the league, three of the top five of ESPN's NBA Rank from last year. Can't ask for much more than that from a second-round series, can you? Throw in DeAndre Jordan, Serge Ibaka and various entertaining role players, and baby, you got yourself one fine NBA stew going.

Dunking and Other Acts of Violence

Should be an eventful series.

Shared Players of Note:

Chris Wilcox, Byron Mullens, Ryan Gomes and Shaun Livingston (dude gets around) all spent time with the Clippers and Thunder, while Brent Barry, Gar Heard, Reggie Evans and Tom Chambers all overlapped with the Clippers back in the Sonics days. Eric Bledsoe was also originally drafted by the Thunder but dealt to the Clippers for a pick that eventually helped the Thunder land Kendrick Perkins, which is mildly unfortunate.

Remember This Fight?

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