The Spurs lost to the Grizz, the Lakers lost to the West-less (and now Aaron Gray-less, unfortunately) Hornets and they are both in for long series at best and may actually lose without homecourt now. One game yes but losing homecourt game 1 changes the entire complexion of a playoff series - the team that wins game 1 wins the series ~70% of the time in playoff history.

Denver and OKC match up well with all the lower seeds and have shown they can both beat the Spurs or the Lakers even when not 100%. I think that the winner of this series is going to march on to the WCF, win that, and match up with the Bulls or the Heat.

Thoughts?