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Western Conference Playoff Report: April 12th

Blowing 21 point leads in the middle of a playoff race is bad for your health.

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

In the interest of full disclosure I avoided Bright Side like the plague last night after that game.  In fact I still haven't gone through the game thread or the post game thread because I'm literally terrified to do so.  Love you guys anyway.

But since I'm still sort of a masochist I went and saw the movie Draft Day with Kevin Costner.  My review?  It's exactly what you think but if you want to get a few laughs (its not supposed to be funny) and want to save a few bucks on a masters class in how not to negotiate - then draft day is for you.

Friday April 11th Key Western Conference Results:

San Antonio Spurs 112 Phoenix Suns 104 (Recap) -  San Antonio played without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, Phoenix played without Goran Dragic and the Suns blew a 21 point lead to lose a game they really should have had. It's almost as simple as that.  Eric Bledsoe turned in a tremendous performance with 30 points (11/16) 11 rebounds and 9 assists while Gerald Green added 27 and Markieff Morris chipped in 20.

The story of the game for the Spurs was Danny Green.  Once the Spurs fell behind Green reverted to 2013 NBA Finals mode and went nuclear - scoring 33 points including 7/10 from three point range.  Tony Parker returned from an injury to score 18 points in just 24 minutes.  I'm too disappointed to continue.

Memphis Grizzlies 117 Philadelphia 76ers 95 (Recap) -  If you expected Memphis to lose this game then you clearly believe in fairy tales.  Nobody played more than 31 minutes for Memphis and 13 different people scored.  The win combined with the Suns loss put the Grizzlies back into the 8 seed in the West.  Something called Casper Ware played 6 minutes for the 76ers and had 4 points while another thing called Adonis Thomas scored 4 points in his 8 minutes.  Bonus points ot anyone who can tell me anything about either of those guys off the top of their heads -  I'm pretty sure they were both in Starship Troopers.

Golden State Warriors 112 Los Angeles Lakers 95 (Recap) -  Watching the Lakers get continually drummed by our Western Conference playoff competition is absolutely infuriating to me.  Steph Curry scored 30 points to lead the Warriors who saw David Lee return to the lineup while Andre Iguodala sat with knee tendinitis.  Everyone sucks for the Lakers.  The easy win for Golden State clinched a playoff berth for Full Squad.

Sorry Coffel - I sort of mailed that one in.

Current Western Conference Standings:

TEAM W L PCT GB L10 STREAK
1.San Antonio
62 18 .775 - 8-2 WON 2
2. Oklahoma City
58 21 .734 3.5
7-3 WON 3
3. LA Clippers
55 24 .696 6.5 7-3 LOST 1
4. Houston 52 27 .658 9.5 5-5 LOST 2
5. Portland
52 28 .650 10 7-3 WON 3
6. Golden State
49 30 .620 12.5 6-4 WON 1
7. Dallas
48 32 .600 14 6-4 LOST 1
8. Memphis
47 32 .595 14.5
6-4 WON 2
- SUNS
47 32 .595 14.5 7-3 LOST 1

Saturday April 12th Western Conference Games of Significance:

Suns @ Mavericks - This is the only one on the schedule tonight and you may have figured out it's a mildly large one.  The King of Density has you covered on the preview so I won't say much other than I really hope Goran Dragic plays.  I really, really hope Goran Dragic plays.  If the Suns win tonight they'll be playing Memphis on Monday for a playoff berth - if they lose they'll be playing to avoid elimination.  For emotional hedging purposes I'll take the Mavericks by 8.

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