The NBA playoffs begin today, and for several Western Conference teams, they begin on the road.
I usually shun numbers-only articles because they do not tell a complete story. These numbers, all representing playoff teams' losses to lottery-bound squads, speak for themselves.
I excluded the three teams in the 60-win club and the Orlando Magic. Since several squads in the East finished with sub-.500 records or were too inconsistent, I omitted them, too.
From the second through eighth seeds in the West, three teams jump out on this list. Is it any wonder all three of them will open the postseason in someone else's building?
When you lose to the Grizzlies in December, you tend to brush it off as a singular evening of disgrace. When playoff seeding comes down to two or three games, these defeats, not ones to postseason peers, are the ones that sting.
If the Rockets, Jazz, and Mavericks had taken care of business against the lousiest of the lousy, they might enjoy home-court advantage this weekend, instead of their perception as roadkill.
Here are the stinkers:
DENVER NUGGETS
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
HOUSTON ROCKETS
DALLAS MAVERICKS
NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
UTAH JAZZ
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