it won't see either the Pacers or Bulls until the conference finals

Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports: The San Antonio Spurs' attempt to reach the conference finals for third consecutive season won't be easy. They start off with the Mavericks, who won 49 games — pretty strong for an eight seed. San Antonio's second round opponent, given it beats the Dallas Mavericks, will be either the Houston Rockets or Portland Trail Blazers — who each won 54 games. And if the Spurs reach the conference finals, they likely will get the Oklahoma City Thunder or Los Angeles Clippers — two teams who battled with San Antonio for the top spot in the West for much of the year.Everyone in the Western Conference is facing monumental challenges. As a whole the level of competition here is dramatically more potent than anything in the Eastern Conference. But if you'd have to pick one draw as the most difficult it would probably be that of the Thunder. They open with the Memphis Grizzlies, a team whose performance has been trending upward and one that has caused the Thunder problems in the past. Assuming there are no upsets, the Thunder would then have to get through the Clippers and the Spurs. It's an absolutely terrifying proposition, but someone will have to survive. USA TODAY Sports:Man, the Thunder absolutely drew a tough spot. But the Indiana Pacers are the No. 1 seed in the East and probably will have to face the hottest team in the conference in the second round in the Chicago Bulls. Then they would have to upse the Miami Heat, who again have the easiest path to the Finals of any team. That's tough given how bad as a whole the East is.Every week, USA TODAY Sports asks its NBA experts around the country and Internet three questions about a hot topic in the league. This week, we size up the playoff bracket. Operating with the caveat that no path is truly "easy," the seeds broke in the Heat's favor, as long as each series goes according to seed. In the first round, they play the Charlotte Bobcats who are 0-15 against the Heat since Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade teamed up in 2010-11. If the third-seeded Toronto Raptors beat the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets, that's another favorable matchup for Miami. The Heat are 14-0 against the Raptors since 2010-11. Now, if Brooklyn beats Toronto, that presents a more difficult challenge for the Heat,Jordans Release 2014, who did not beat Brooklyn in four games this season. If Miami continues to advance, it won't see either the Pacers or Bulls until the conference finals, and if the Heat reach the NBA Finals, they will get a team from the West that just had to go through a brutal bracket filled with 50-win teams. ???????? http://www.wechiro.com/profiles/blog...-aqua-for-2014 http://soundcafe.ning.com/profiles/b...-aqua-for-2014 http://gofishtalk.com/profiles/blogs...-aqua-for-2014 http://somosconservadores.ning.com/p...-aqua-for-2014 http://artsmmadd.ning.com/profiles/b...-aqua-for-2014 http://theblacklistpub.ning.com/foru...-aqua-for-2014