2019 NBA West playoff preview: It's all about aiming for weakness

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The 2019 NBA playoffs will begin on Saturday when the Golden State Warriors take on the Los Angeles Clippers while the Denver Nuggets confront the San Antonio Spurs. The other two series are Portland Trail blazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz that will happen on Sunday. CGTN has some analysis for all four matchups.

Rockets vs. Jazz

James Harden #13, Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets and Donovan Mitchell #45, Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz /VCG Photo

Houston are undoubtedly a better team than Utah, especially in offense thanks to their good 3-pt shooting and the outstanding isolation attack power of the team's two guards, James Harden and Chris Paul. More importantly, Harden and Paul are two of the league's best ball screen players and whatever choice they make - pass to teammate under the rim, penetrate or shoot in front of big men - will make Rudy Gobert and the Jazz's defense suffer, just like they did last season.

Having learnt their lesson from last year's playoffs, Utah gave 2.08-meter-tall Derrick Favors more time to lead their bench squad to offset Houston's small-ball advantage and it worked. Moreover, compared with Mike D'Antoni who prefer simple offense and short rotations, head coach Quin Snyder has more options for both tactics and players.

It's certain that the Jazz are capable of making every game uncomfortable for the Rockets, but as long as they have to build their defense around Gobert in the paint and give the ball to Donovan Mitchell for key plays, Utah may not be able to stop Houston.

Thunder vs. Trail Blazers

Russell Westbrook (L1), Paul Geroge (L2) of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Damian Lillard (R1), C.J. McCollum (R2) of the Portland Trail Blazers /VCG Photo

Rip City misses Jusuf Nurkic, both mentally and for his important role on the court. The Bosnian center is Portland's No.3 scorer, biggest contributor to rim protection and offensive rebounding and the best screen for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum in pick and roll. Without him, the team's paint can look like the main street early in the morning in front of Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

Actually, even if Nurkic is healthy, Oklahoma City are the last team Portland want to meet. OKC have been well-known for double teaming the ball handler after screen in the high block while the Trail Blazers have the second most ball screen plays in the league. Last year, the New Orleans Pelicans tore the offense of Lillard and McCollum apart with Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday. Imagine what will happen when they meet Westbrook and George who are bigger, stronger and faster.

Nuggets vs. Spurs

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets and DeMar DeRozan #10, Rudy Gay 22, Patty Mills #8, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs /VCG Photo

What's the secret of Denver's offense this season? The answer is sending four small guys who can shoot to keep moving around Nikola Jokic who will either pass the ball to the most proper teammate or launch attack on his own. Can San Antonio handle this? Yes, they can.

The Nuggets love team play which, in other words, means that they don't have a go-to guy when their give-and-go play does not work. In defense, the Spurs have enough experienced veterans to cut the passing lines of Denver and force Jokic to carry offense. Then there comes Jakob Poeltl who is big enough to stop Jokic.

In offense, San Antonio have three players with a size advantage - DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay - in front of Denver's dwarf legion. It can be assumed that the series will fall into slow, physical confrontation. Therefore, if the Nuggets want to win, they need to make more three-pointers and expect their guards to do better than usual.

Warriors vs. Clippers

Stephen Curry #30, DeMarcus Cousins #0, Kevin Durant #35, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Lou Williams #23, Danilo Gallinari #8 of the Los Angeles Clippers /VCG Photo

This will probably be the most predictable series in the first round in the Western Conference. The Clippers deserve respect as they made the playoffs after sending away one of their best offensive players. However, they do not stand any chance in front of the healthy defending champions.

Golden State should take the series as an opportunity to test DeMarcus Cousins for his playoffs debut and give Stephen Curry more time to recover from his ankle problem. After all, they will meet the Rockets in the semi-finals soon.

(Top image: CGTN Photo by Liu Shaozhen)