There’s roughly 20 percent of the NBA season left. Playoff scenarios are starting to form and basketball fans are readying for an amazing postseason. While playoff seedings are still up for grabs, dream playoff matchups are starting to take shape. Will we see a first-round battle of L.A.? How about a new school versus an old school matchup with Chris Paul potentially facing Luka Dončić? Or even the potential MVP in Nikola Jokić facing off against the always deadly Damian Lillard? There are a lot of potential matchups on the horizon that we can dream about. However, let us take a look into some of the dream Western Conference playoffs matchups that the NBA wants to see.
Which Western Conference Playoffs Matchups do we want to see?
The Battle of Los Angeles
No need for an introduction here. This has been the matchup the NBA landscape has been craving over the past couple of years, ever since Anthony Davis teamed up with LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard agreed to play for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Just consider the star power that would be featured in this game. LeBron versus Kawhi, Davis versus Paul George, it never stops. This matchup would have arguably four of the top 15 players in the game on the court at the same time. There will be no need for marketing as social media will do better than networks like ESPN or TNT could ever imagine.
Laker Nation knows that history favors their team when it comes to this rivalry. After a total of 226 regular-season matchups, the Lakers lead the series 150 – 76.
This matchup will be as much between the fanbases as it would be for the teams. This is the faceoff we need, so having it come this early in the postseason would be a dream playoff matchup.
A 2019 Western Conference Semi-Finals Rematch
The faceoff between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets in the 2019 playoffs will go was one of the best in recent memory. The series was back-and-forth and was decided in the final minutes of Game 7.
Now fast-forward to the current season, when Jokić is playing the best basketball of his career. A little more than an assist away from averaging a triple-double. The Joker is solidifying himself as the runaway MVP favorite this year.
On the other side, you get Damian Lillard. The perennial All-Star guard is just as-if not more-deadly from 30+ feet away from the basket as he is around the rim. No lead is safe against Lillard, and the Nuggets know that all too well.
Honestly, who wouldn’t want to see a Joker face off against Dame Dolla? It would be a slugfest between two of the NBA’s most high-powered offenses. Grab your popcorn ladies and gentlemen, because this series could go seven.
Spida vs. Luka
Donovan Mitchell helped put on one of the greatest first-round matchups in NBA history last year. Alongside Denver’s Jamal Murray, the duo combined for four 50-point games, each getting two of them. It was must-see television, and now Spida Mitchell is taking his talents to new heights this season.
Opposite Mitchell would be another one of the game’s best up-and-coming guards in Luka Dončić. Dončić is continuing to carry his Dallas Mavericks into the playoffs despite a lackluster supporting cast.
This dream playoff matchup would satisfy almost every NBA basketball enthusiast. The Utah Jazz organization embodies true team basketball, while the Mavericks’ gameplan mimics a vintage Allen Iverson-led Philidelphia 76ers team. It is truly going to be the best of both worlds if these two teams face off in the first round!
The Final Showdown between CP3 and Steph… maybe?
Stephen Curry is playing arguably the best basketball of his career over the past 10 games. He’s averaging 41.3 points and has singlehandedly carried the Golden State Warriors back into playoff contention. He’s definitely putting himself into the MVP conversation, but at the very least, proving his value to the Warriors.
On the other end of the Western Conference standings, you find the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have been the most surprising story of the 2020-21 NBA season with their emergence into contending status after missing the playoffs for the past decade. Chris Paul has been the catalyst in pushing the Suns to these new heights.
The Steph versus CP3 battle has been going on since the early 2010s. CP3’s time in Los Angeles and Houston can all be categorized in the same bucket. Great teams that could not get past Steph and the Warriors. Would this matchup be the first and possibly last time that CP3 can outlast Curry?
The 2020 Western Conference Finals Rematch
While the 2020 Western Conference Finals ended in a gentleman’s sweep, seeing this matchup in the first-round would be exciting. MVP favorite Nikola Jokić facing off with the Western Conference favorite Los Angeles Lakers. It is a dream basketball matchup in the making.
This series would include everything the casual NBA fan is looking for in a series. There is definitely star power with Jokić, LeBron, and Anthony Davis. Despite different divisions, this matchup has always been considered a rivalry. It even has a great narrative assuming Jokić wins the MVP award for the 2020-21 season.
Even though the Lakers are considered the favorites to win the title and the Nuggets are not expected to generate much noise given the injury to Jamal Murray, this matchup would be one of the most highly anticipated first-round series we have seen in a long time. This would be exciting to watch and would definitely start the 2021 playoffs off with a Mike Breen “BANG!”