Intersection of Beale Street and East

With the win against the OKC Zombies yesterday, the Memphis Grizzlies continued to build their mûmakilian hype machine. Not that they need it, but I decided I’ll help them out.

I’m on the east coast, so maybe this was inevitable, but it seemed like the buzz going into the NBA playoffs was largely directed towards the big three in the Eastern Conference – not LeBron, Wade, and Bosh, but the Bulls, the Heat, and the Celtics.

What’s lost in that hoopla is that the West is likely still the better conference, top to bottom (at least for playoff teams). Let’s not forget that the Indiana Pacers were the eight seed in the East with a 37-45 record, and Philadelphia was seven at exactly .500.

A few other signs that the West is the better overall playoff conference this season: three non-playoff teams in the West have a better record than Indiana, Eastern Conference five-seed Atlanta went into the playoffs on a six-game losing streak, the only first-round sweep was in the East (#3 Boston over #6 New York), New Orleans won two games against the reigning champion Lakers, and – of course – Memphis took down one-seed San Antonio.

While this might have proven that the Spurs just aren’t any good, San Antonio’s 61 regular-season wins and Memphis’ win over the Zombies on Sunday suggest Memphis might be just as responsible.

In fact, after the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies fifth ever playoff win Sunday, the salient question seems to be: how far can they go in the West? (By the way, I just heard this question on First Take.) But, to address the issue of conference supremacy, I’d rather wonder – a la Marvel’s What If? franchise – how far could the Grizzlies go in the Eastern Conference playoffs?

So, in reverse order, here’s how I think Memphis (which is well east of the Mississippi River, by the way) might fare against every team in the Eastern Conference playoffs:

#8 Indiana Pacers

Obviously, as the eight seed, the Pacers wouldn’t even be in the playoffs if Memphis was in the East because Memphis is nineteen games ahead of Indiana. Indiana showed a little life in the Chicago series – which ended 4-1, not 4-0 – but they would almost definitely be overmatched here.

Memphis beat Indiana 104-90 and 99-78 in the regular season.

#7 Philadelphia 76ers

The records don’t reflect this, but I think the 76ers are actually worse than the Pacers. Regardless, this isn’t a great unit. Elton Brand led the team with 15 PPG and 8.3 RPG in the regular season. Their other starting big is Spencer Hawes.

Memphis beat Philadelphia 99-94 and 102-91 in the regular season.

#6 New York Knicks

Since the Carmelo trade, the Knicks are 14-18, including their playoff series against Boston, which is actually a lower winning percentage than the Pacers’ regular season percentage. So, again, they’re not very good. Plus, one of the Grizzlies best assets is their SF defense from Shane Battier and Tony Allen. Couple that with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol bothering Stoudemire, and I don’t see where the Knicks are getting points – at least in the half-court.

Despite that, the Knicks beat the Grizzlies 110-108 and 120-99 in the regular season (both after the Melo trade), but the Knicks won the first game with half a second left and hit 20 (!) three-pointers in the second win. Memphis also had a four-game lead in the regular season W/L column over New York in (what I’m calling) the stronger conference.

#5 Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks could actually provide a tough matchup for the Grizz. Atlanta has a lot of size that could bother Randolph and Gasol, and Josh Smith is always a matchup nightmare. (Plus Atlanta’s up 26-17 on Chicago as I type this.)

Atlanta beat Memphis in the very first game of the season (119-104) and again on December 1 (112-109), both before the Battier trade.

Atlanta’s biggest issue this season has been consistent winning, hence the six-game skid to end the season, so it’s hard to confidently say they could beat anybody 4 out of 7 other than the Orlando Magic.

#4 Orlando Magic

Speaking of…

If the Grizzlies were magically transplanted into the East on the day before the playoffs, Orlando would be their first-round matchup, so this would be the Grizzlies first win. Atlanta showed, fairly easily, how to beat the Magic: don’t double Dwight Howard, let him do what he wants but be physical with him, and stay at home on their shooters. And the Hawks did that with Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, and Jason Collins. I’m pretty sure Memphis would fare at least as well with Randolph, Gasol, and Darrell Arthur.

#3 Boston Celtics

Now we’re getting into the class of the Eastern Conference – the San Antonios and the Oklahoma Cities of the East, if you will.

It’s hard to gauge the C’s right now, but one of their major concerns since the Kendrick Perkins/Jeff Green trade is size, which isn’t a good weakness against the Grizzlies. Battier and (former Celtic) Allen could clamp down on Paul Pierce or Ray Allen if either gets hot.

Memphis lost to Boston in overtime on November 13 (116-110) and beat them in March (90-87), after the trade deadline.

#2 Miami Heat

Memphis beat Miami with a last-second shot from Rudy Gay – one of the plays of the year – in late November, but the Heat destroyed the Grizzlies on my birthday (118-85) when Miami was on their late-season push. I don’t think any team really wants to play the Heat in these playoffs, but the Grizzlies at least have good perimeter defense to potentially deal with LeBron and Wade.

#1 Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have a good interior presence with Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, and Derrick Rose is obviously tough for any team to deal with. He recorded his first ever triple-double in a January win over the Grizz (96-84), and led the Bulls to a late win over Memphis in late March (99-96).

If the Grizz did join the East for the 2011 playoffs, the Bulls would be their second-round matchup, based on current records. But, the Hawks and that sixth seed were only a couple of garbage games back from Memphis, so I’m sure Lionel Hollins would have motivated his team to shoot for that sixth spot and an early-round bypass of Chicago.

That would have meant the Celtics in round one, and Memphis already proved they can take care of old people.

Event of the Week:

Today was UNCW’s last day of classes for the school year.