NBA Playoffs 2012: Breaking Down Every 1st-Round Survivor's Biggest Weakness

The first round of the 2012 NBA playoffs is in the books, and already the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, along with two other title favorites in Chicago and Memphis, have been eliminated. 

No team is flawless, of course, and that's why we are here, to highlight the biggest weakness for each of the last teams standing. 

Join Bleacher Report as we take a closer look at the biggest flaws of each of the eight NBA playoff teams remaining.

Boston Celtics: Health

The Boston Celtics' greatest weakness moving forward is the health of their star players.

Paul Pierce, Boston's go-to playmaker late in games and the team's leading scorer this postseason (tied with Kevin Garnett, 20.1 PPG), injured his left knee in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks.

Pierce struggled in the Celtics' Game 1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, shooting just 3-of-11 from the field for 14 points. 

Thirty-six-year-old sharpshooter Ray Allen is also banged up this postseason.

Allen is suffering from painful bone spurs in his ankle, which better explains his dismal 28 percent shooting from beyond the arc thus far in the playoffs. Allen shot better than 45 percent from three-point land during the regular season.

Clearly, the health of Boston's veteran superstars will be the team's biggest weakness as it marches in the playoffs.

The Celtics may be able to limp past the Sixers in the conference semifinals, but down the road, they will need their big guns 100 percent healthy.

Indiana Pacers: No Go-To Superstar

For those who argue that Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger is a superstar, I present you with the following counterargument: Granger is shooting 38 percent from the field and 33 percent from downtown in six playoff games this spring.

Yes, he averages 19 points per game, but he is taking 22 percent of the team's total shots this postseason.

David West and Roy Hibbert are both averaging impressive double-doubles in these playoffs, but neither player qualifies as a superstar nor is capable of taking over a game.

The Pacers' biggest weakness right now is that they have a plethora of role players, but no one who can go out and win them a game with clutch play late.

This absence of a go-to superstar against a team as deadly as the Miami Heat will likely be Indiana's downfall this May. 

Los Angeles Clippers: One-Dimensional

Quite frankly, the Los Angeles Clippers go as Chris Paul goes.

The MVP-candidate point guard is arguably the only creator in L.A.'s rotation, considering the season-ending injury suffered by Chauncey Billups earlier this year. 

Paul has carried the Clippers into the second round of the playoffs, averaging a remarkable 20.4 points, 7.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in L.A.'s first-round series win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Unfortunately, the only other player following Paul's lead is Blake Griffin, who is averaging 18 points and 6.4 rebounds this postseason. Griffin and Paul are the only Clippers players averaging double-digit points in the playoffs. 

Three of the Clippers scorers—Mo Williams, Caron Butler (injured hand) and Randy Foye—are shooting less than 38 percent from the field.

Right now, it seems the only dimension to L.A.'s other team is Paul. The result is a Clippers team that is wearing down its All-Star point guard, who will only be able to carry L.A. so far this spring. 

Los Angeles Lakers: Lack of Desire

Whether it appears in the form of an idiotic postgame comment by center Andrew Bynum, or Pau Gasol's every-now-and-then disappearing act, the Los Angeles Lakers seem to consistently exhibit a lack of desire.

Other than Kobe Bryant, arguably the hungriest superstar in the game today, the rest of L.A.'s champions seem content with their back-to-back titles from 2009 and 2010.

Bynum's undermining and arrogant attitude toward coach Mike Brown is just a small example of the Lakers' lack of cohesiveness and fire this postseason. They needed seven games to dispose of a Denver Nuggets team that they should have eliminated in five.

Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom are not in the L.A. locker room anymore, and that is an underrated weakness of this year's Lakers. 

There is clearly a lack of desire and motivation in Hollywood this spring, and it will ultimately come back to haunt Bryant and the Lakers this summer, as they miss out on the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the second straight postseason. 

Miami Heat: Closing out Tight Games

Since the beginning of the LeBron James era in South Beach, the million-dollar question has been, who takes the last shot with the game on the line?

Nearly two years later, we still don't have a definitive answer.

In Game 4 of the Heat's first-round series with the New York Knicks, it was Dwyane Wade taking the final shot. But any other time, it may be James isolated with the ball in his hands at the top of the key.

The difficult decision for head coach Erik Spoelstra has continued to draw criticism dating back to last year's regular season, and for good reason, as it is a considerable Miami defect.

Perhaps the only thing worse than not having a closer is having two.

While James presents the more obvious matchup nightmare for the defense late in games because of his size and court vision (5.5 APG in these playoffs), Wade qualifies as the more clutch prospect, as he has willed the Miami Heat to an NBA title once already. 

Oklahoma City Thunder: Susceptible Frontcourt

The Oklahoma City Thunder's top four frontcourt players combine to average just 18.8 points per game this postseason, and that includes starting power forward Serge Ibaka's 11 PPG in four playoff games in 2012.

It's no surprise that the Thunder get most of their scoring from perimeter stars Kevin Durant (26.5 PPG in these playoffs), Russell Westbrook (22.3 PPG) and James Harden (18.3 PPG), but how deep can OKC go relying on jump shots to win games?

Ibaka and backup power forward Nick Collison are averaging more than four personal fouls per game in the playoffs and will continue to be susceptible to fouling out as the postseason wears on, especially against a team with a sizable frontcourt like the L.A. Lakers (who boast not one, but two seven-footers).

According to 82games.com, the Thunder have a minus-6.1 PER (Player Efficiency Rating) at the center position, while the L.A. Lakers have a plus-7.5 PER at center.

OKC's biggest weakness going forward is without a doubt its unreliable frontcourt. 

Philadelphia 76ers: Inexperience

With the exception of Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala, no player in Philadelphia's playoff rotation is older than 25.

On top of that considerable youth in the Sixers lineup is the fact that 2012 marks the first time Philadelphia has made it past the first round since 2003, when Larry Brown was the coach.

The lack of playoff experience reared its ugly head in the 76ers' brutal Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, when they let a 10-point fourth-quarter lead slip away on the road.

Experienced, veteran ballclubs don't blow big leads in big games.

Boston's experience was clearly on display in its calm comeback on Saturday night, while Philly's youth stole the show for all the wrong reasons. Game 2 was a different story, however, as the Sixers showed that their youth isn't all bad. 

San Antonio Spurs: Age

If the Philadelphia 76ers are young, then it goes without saying that the San Antonio Spurs are old, in more ways than one.

Not only are the Spurs aging, but their time atop the NBA has come and gone, as they have gone four years without winning a championship or even reaching the NBA Finals. 

San Antonio's Big Three is still intact, but unfortunately for Gregg Popovich's squad, the combined age of superstars Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili is equal to 99 years.

Outside of those three, three other players in Popovich's playoff rotation are 30 or older (Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson and Matt Bonner). 

Anytime a championship contender is as collectively old as this postseason's San Antonio, fans and supporters should be worried.

With so much wear and tear on the bodies of the Big Three, who have played extensive playoff minutes over the past decade as well as during the lengthy regular season, a crippling injury is never all that far away.

As the action heats up and the competition gets more fierce for the No. 1-seeded Spurs, their age, arguably their biggest weakness, will become a critical factor to their success. 

Follow Patrick Clarke on Twitter for more on the 2012 NBA playoffs.