Which of the two teams battling for the No. 8 seed would be more compelling to see in the NBA Playoffs? Six writers give their take.
Because of the scrooge of NBA conference imbalance, only one of the Thunder and Pelicans will make the 2015 NBA Playoffs. That means we'll be deprived of seeing one of two top-six MVP candidates -- Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis -- during the season's most important stretch.
The two teams are tied for the West's No. 8 seed with a 44-37 record. The Pelicans have the tiebreaker by virtue of this Davis miracle shot in February, but they face the Spurs in their season finale. San Antonio has won 11 in a row and must win to lock up the No. 2 seed, so they have plenty of incentive to try their hardest. The Thunder, meanwhile, face the lowly Timberwolves in the season finale, which should be an easy win.
Choosing between the two of them is like choosing which child you like best, but a choice must be made. Only one of these teams can face the Golden State Warriors in the first round. Six SB Nation contributors explain which team they'd prefer to see.
Why the Thunder
TOM ZILLER. Let's face it: both New Orleans and Oklahoma City are hopeless against the Warriors. There's little chance Golden State would break a sweat against either squad. (This does not apply to Draymond Green, who would sweat eating a Popsicle in Kamchatka.)
So the only thing we're really rooting for here is a dose of wonder. And with all due respect to Anthony Davis, that dose of wonder is best coming from Russell Westbrook.
As he has been doing for the past three months, Westbrook will put the entire franchise on his back and do his worst to Stephen Curry and friends. And while it'll end up with a sweep or a five-game waltz, we're guaranteed to get a sequel of Allen Iverson vs. the Lakers. Isn't that worth fighting for?
ZITO MADU: If the Thunder make the playoffs, we might finally get the answer to the question of whether the body or spirit breaks first. It's sadistic, sure, but it remains to be seen just how far Westbrook can push his limits. He's exceeded them numerous times this season, and yet you can't help but feel he has nothing left. No one man should have to carry an entire team.
Then again, no one man should have all the power and cataclysmic ability that Westbrook has, and yet here we are. The world deserves to know how much more incredible he can be, even if it means watching through misty eyes as the Golden State Warriors detonate the hopes and dreams around him. More Westbrook is something we all need.
SPENCER HALL: Russell Westbrook with one grenade left sitting in a foxhole as his positions are overrun by hordes of enemy soldiers. Russell Westbrook running toward a tsunami with a machete and a prayer. Russell Westbrook dunking on extinction and hanging on the rim. Look, there's Russell Westbrook wearing the skin of his enemies for warmth and fighting off 50 wolves in sub-zero weather with only his fists and a crossover.
I know Russell Westbrook isn't going to win here, but why do you not want to watch him star in his own private Liam Neeson vehicle? This hero is doomed and outnumbered, but it doesn't mean I don't want to watch the film, and possibly option a sequel.
SB Nation presents: Russell Westbrook’s most ridiculous highlight moments
Why the Pelicans
PAUL FLANNERY: Back in late January, I spent a week in NOLA crafting a 3,500-word piece around how Anthony Davis could rally his city around an NBA franchise still searching for its identity. That story needs a postseason coda. We all want to see AD in the playoffs, even if it's for a short series against an unstoppable juggernaut.
First-round demolitions are how superstar journeys typically begin. It's how the Thunder began way back in 2009 when they lasted six games against the eventual champion Lakers. Since then, OKC has had its chances -- repeatedly -- and came up lacking in one aspect or another. Assuming good health, it will be back for another shot.
This is AD's time, and as the man once said, "Let ‘em have it."
MIKE PRADA: A vote for the Pelicans is a vote to put Westbrook out of his misery. Watching a man slam into a brick wall 100 times a day because it's the only way his friends can barge through sounds compelling, but it's like listening to someone you don't consider a close friend reveal their greatest fears in life. You'd rather know this person as their ideal version of themselves, not someone whose demons are now public. I'd rather Westbrook's lasting memory be his rampage through the league in the second half of the season, not an inevitable playoff blowout against the league's best team.
The Pelicans probably won't beat the Warriors either, but at least they're coming in at full strength and with a crowd that's thrilled to even make the postseason. For them, the experience is useful. For the Thunder, it's just prolonging a horrible year where nothing went right.
Plus, Playoff Anthony Davis.
SETH ROSENTHAL: I want Davis in the playoffs, of course, but I'm really in it for Tyreke Evans. You might have forgotten about Evans, probably because he's been buried on mediocre teams since the Kings made him the fourth pick in 2009, even spending his first year in New Orleans as a bench player.
Now, he's the Brow's second banana, and it's a funny bunch of bananas to watch. Reke still Rekes exactly the way he's always Reked (Rought?) -- he has some truly point guardly moments, but expends most of his offense with his head down and all momentum toward the rim. Even with diminishing fouls drawn, Evans is reasonably efficient driving to the hoop.
It's been funny, though, to watch him burn crucial New Orleans possessions barreling and barreling away while one of the most gifted basketball players on Earth just watches. The late-game dynamic between the gentle but increasingly-frustrated Davis and the talented but often-impulsive Evans is fascinating, and I want to see it in the postseason. GIVE ME PLAYOFF REKE.
SB Nation presents: Anthony Davis is devastating his opponents
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