This is easily the most interesting matchup of the first round for two reasons: James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
More milestones await James in these playoffs, too. Game 1 will take place in two days. He enters this postseason No. 4 at 5,572 points - behind only No. 3 Kobe Bryant (5,640), No. 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) and No. 1 Michael Jordan (5,987).
Mr. Westbrook, meet Mr. The first-round matchup between the number three seed Rockets and sixth-seeded Thunder will have no bearing on the MVP trophy but will be yet another talking point in the raging discussion. Combine that with the strength of the 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs, the shrewdness of the Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich and the league's fierce MVP competition between Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma Thunder) and James Harden (Houston Rockets), also Western Conference members, and you have a dominant division that only attrition can take down.
Players have recorded triple-doubles with more points, assists, or rebounds than the 53-17-16 explosion, but again Harden's ability to do it all at once comes into play. Harden averaged 29.1 points, 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds for the Rockets. On the other end of the spectrum, Doug McDermott will be relied on to make shots and help spread the floor for Westbrook, but he'll struggle to stay in front of anyone, especially when the Rockets play Lou Williams and Eric Gordon together, then there's Enes Kanter.
"It's still the intensity [of the playoffs], you have to play hard but play smart as well", Harden said.
San Antonio is in the postseason for the 20th consecutive year. And as always Mike Conley and Tony Parker will go at it for old times sake.
But that doesn't tell anywhere near the whole story of the Spurs' consistent excellence.
BOSTON BEST? The Celtics are a No. 1 seed for the first time since 2008, when they won their last National Basketball Association title.
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The Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizareds are viewed as the other East contenders tasked with trying to stop James from reaching his seventh consecutive Finals. Bulls at Celtics on Tuesday. Could James Harden's 2016-2017 season really be better offensively than Wilt Chamberlain's 50 ppg season?
There have been fleeting signs of that dominant big man through the 2016-17 regular season where his offence has improved greatly. However, Milwaukee's young talent can offset their depth with exceptional play.
No active player had more games without a playoff appearance than Monroe. He has been the head of the snake the entire season and has played in 80 of the Thunder's 82 games this season, being the primary creator on offense by leading the team in assists. Brent Barnaky and Matthew Boland are the newcomers in the pool of 37 refs selected to work first-round games. This regular season was a massive success in terms of where they were projected to finish. Home and away fans alike packed the arenas for their chance to witness history every night and now that it had happened, it is a refreshing take away from what has been a historic National Basketball Association regular season within itself.
Despite their current core of stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Los Angeles Clippers have never advanced beyond the playoff's second round.
He's facing another player who gets triple-doubles in bunches. It also continues the ongoing debate over which of the two should be voted this season's most valuable player.
No. 1 seeds nearly always beat No. 8 seeds in the opening round.
"If you're Chicago, you think, hey, Dwyane Wade and (Rajon) Rondo have won championships, Jimmy Butler has gone deep in the playoffs before".
It is no stretch to say that he single-handedly dragged the Thunder up off the deck in the wake of Durant's shock departure to join the Golden State Warriors, and simply willed them back into the playoffs.
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