Western Conference Playoff Race to Be One for the Ages

The Western Conference playoff race may be one of the best in the history of the NBA.

The No. 1 seed Lakers could fall from their No.1 rankings to anywhere from second to  eight. No one is really safe. So when you break this down, predictions are really hard to come by. For most people, but not for me. I see the big picture, I see past the records and can see how this thing will pan out.

There have been many great articles breaking down the race here on BleacherReport.com. Lets start at the bottom and work our way up.

The Race ends around the ninth seed. The Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets are locked into a playoff duel that should continue well into the end of season.

The Nuggets have the talent to get in and create havoc for the number one seed. But Golden State will take this title behind Baron Davis.

What will the fall out be in Denver? Really, George Karl will be fired, Iverson will opt out and the team will need to be rebuilt. They have some over inflated salaries that need to be moved. Golden State will push in and probably lose to San Antonio in the first round.

The 5-7 seeds are tough to predict. Dallas and Phoenix are playing up and down. But I really think that both teams are just kind of starting over. They are in the first or second week of the season, while these other teams have been playing the same basketball style all year.

Kidd makes the team play a different style of basketball, same with Shaq. So it is start over time for them and they are showing flashes of greatness. Dallas played San Antonio very tough last weekend, then lost when Jason Kidd fell apart.

The big question for both teams is do the news guys have playoff greatness left in them? We all know Shaq does. The guy played his heart out against San Antonio Sunday and finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Shaq does make this team better, but Jason Kidd really does not make Dallas better.

The fall out is that Dallas will stay where they are and finish as the seventh seed. A weak Houston team that is playing out of their minds, will realize that they are playing without Yao and fall to the sixth seed.

New Orleans drops a bit and pulls up the No. 5 seed behind CP3. It will be nice to see if CP3 can keep up his big games come playoff time.

What next? Utah is no threat at all come playoff time. I predict that no matter what they face in the first round, they are done. They are very close to wrapping up the division and will finish with at least a four seed, as a division winner. Home court against New Orleans sounds nice, but the Hornets play well on road.

Seeds one-three—The LA Lakers are looking sharp, but they don't have a fifth gear that San Antonio has that they will shift into come playoff time. The Spurs have switched over to fifth gear and make a run at another Championship.

The Lakers will get the second seed, but we still have not seen how good they will be once Bynum returns. Gasol is too weak to beat Duncan, Stoudamire, and Dirk in the playoffs. He is not strong enough on D. Phoenix steals the 3rd seed because they will learn how to play with Shaq.

The Diesel may even get a couple das off between now and the end of the year so he can flip into 5th gear too. San Antonio is really starting to pick it up. Kurt Thomas looks great as a sub and is playing big late minutes. The Spurs will be even better come the playoffs, but it will be a great race.

Smoke em if you got em, your daily BM!