NBA Playoffs: Fans' Worst-Case Scenarios for the Postseason

There are barely 20 games left in the NBA regular season. Can you believe it?

Yep, 66 games have nearly come and gone, which means we have to start thinking about the playoffs at some point.

So why not now?

It will be hard to replicate last year's postseason, one of the best in recent memory. And there are plenty of potential scenarios that could go a long way toward ensuring just that.

Here's a handful of ways the 2012 NBA Playoffs could wind up being a drag for fans.

1. The Clippers Blow It

It seems like a fairly distant memory that the Clippers were one of the league's top teams and actually being whispered about as a potential title contender.

Now they're in a state of chaos.

First, they gave up their Pacific Division lead to the Lakers, who simply bided their time and waited for the Clipper hype to wear off. Then the Clippers fell off their torrid, season-starting pace and have gone 5-8 so far in March on the heels of losing three of their last four games in February.

Things don't get much easier. After a five-game home stand to close out this month, the Clippers play nine of their 14 games in April on the road. And with last night's loss to the Western Conference-leading Thunder, they are now much closer to the No. 9 seed than the No. 1, just a game-and-a-half from being out of the playoffs altogether.

It's gotten so bad for the Clips that the Chris Paul-Lob City novelty has worn off, instead replaced by rumors of coach Vinny Del Negro's imminent demise. 

Missing the postseason would fit right in line with the Clippers' tortured history. And it would torture a whole new generation of fans in the process.

2. The Bucks and Hawks Make It

No offense to fans from Milwaukee and Atlanta, but there seems to intrinsically be something less interesting about these two teams than other potential Eastern Conference playoff teams.

The Hawks, who have been running the same unit that surprisingly took the Celtics to Game 7 in the first round of the 2008 playoffs, are lackluster, dull and seemingly unable to get out of their own way when it comes to making the next step. They are now letting Josh Smith shoot the ball 29 times per game in an effort to appease him. This is a team that defines NBA purgatory.

As for the Bucks, their heist of Monta Ellis from Golden State has given them life while ridding them of the void that was Stephen Jackson. But if they make it (they're currently a game out of the No. 8 spot), they will be nothing more than fish food for the top-seeded Bulls. 

Sure, so would a lot of teams, but would you rather have those teams be the Hawks and Bucks or...

3. The Celtics and Knicks Don't

It's obvious that the league itself would much rather see teams from New York and Boston in the postseason as opposed to teams from Milwaukee and Atlanta. But wouldn't the fans, too?

The Celtics are about to embark on their last rodeo with the new big three as currently constituted. Sure, the chances of them going anywhere interesting during said rodeo are slim, but there is certainly some inherent interest in watching Messrs. Pierce, Garnett and Allen play their tails off for one more bunch of playoff games.

The Knicks, meanwhile, have been in the headlines all year long, from Carmelo Anthony's ineffectiveness, to the emergence of Jeremy Lin, to the resignation of Mike D'Antoni, to the current five-game winning streak under interim coach Mike Woodson. A series pitting them against either Chicago or Miami would be the highlight of the first round.

The NBA has its collective fingers crossed that these two teams are in. So should you.

4. The Thunder Don't Reach the Finals

This would be bad.

With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both among the league's 10 best players, the Thunder's ascension to the top of the West after last year's loss in the conference finals and the prospect of a finals matchup between Durant and Westbrook and either LeBron James and Dwayne Wade or Derrick Rose, Oklahoma City in the NBA's signature event has had folks practically salivating.

But don't underestimate the heart of a champion. The Thunder will likely have to go through San Antonio to get there, and the defending champion Mavericks are lurking as a possible conference semifinal opponent. If they are able to overcome those kinds of challenges, how much would they have left?

The bottom line is, with both Durant and Westbrook signed for years, the Thunder's window will get bigger before it begins to shut. But fans and the league alike would be OK with some sort of long run to the top of the mountain to start sooner rather than later.

5. The Lakers and Heat Play for the Title

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the same series? And it's the finals? Thanks, I'm good.

It's true that Kobe is otherworldly, a warrior, one of the league's all-time greats and a deserving champion. But who's really clamoring to see him get back to the Finals? 

James, on course for a well-deserved MVP award, has managed his affairs so poorly ever since "The Decision" that most fans I know would be just fine to see him go the Charles Barkley/Patrick Ewing route with his career. And his teammate, Bosh, has done nothing to alter any perception of him as a hanger-on.

Seeing Rose, or Durant, or Westbrook or even the Spurs' troika of Duncan/Parker/Ginobili go for a fifth ring would hold more interest.

The finals are always better and infinitely more entertaining when it's easy to cheer for the participants.