John Walters

I'm all about that "There Can Only Be One" NBA postseason ad campaign. You've seen the spots: Two players, each of whose face is bisected down the middle, appear on a split screen as they speak the same words simultaneously.

The Kobe-Shaq and LeBron-KG ads are already running. Dozens of NBA players, none of them New York Knicks, filmed the ads that will be tailored to individual series as the playoffs progress. There are reportedly 130 different combinations of ads, which is ironic, because as I write this with just two nights of basketball remaining in the regular season, there seem to be that many possible playoff scenarios in the Western Conference.

Astute observers of the West will tell you that the playoffs began a week ago. Denver at Golden State last Thursday night was a de facto elimination game, and kudos to the Nuggets for lifting themselves off the mat after falling behind by 17 after one quarter. The Suns' loss at Houston over the weekend provided the Rockets the playoff tiebreaker advantage over Phoenix that most likely will allow the Yao-less to avoid facing San Antonio in the opening round.

Yes, the NBA West has been in playoff mode for quite some time. In fact, you could argue that the Western Conference playoffs began on Feb. 3, when the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol from Memphis (they'll also argue that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace should be named, if not MVP, then at least MIP -- Most Influential Player -- this season).

And still, with less than 48 hours before everyone has 82 games in, all but the 7th and 8th spots (Dallas and Denver) out west are as subject to change as an Olympic torch-relay route. The candidates, please:

Los Angeles (56-25)
The Lakers clinch if they beat Sacramento at Staples on Tuesday night. If not, it could be a case of, as their No. 1 fan uttered in The Departed, "No tickee, no laundry." Assume the Lakers win, though. That means they'd get Denver in the first round, which would lead columnists far and near to wonder whether Kobe Bryant can leap over Kenyon Martin as easily as he can an Aston Martin.

New Orleans (55-25)
The Hornets have lost three of four (to be fair, they'd won 10 of 11 before that) and in doing so squandered the No. 1 seed in the West. They need to beat the Clippers at home tonight and then win at Dallas tomorrow, plus they'll need L.A. to lose. Unlikely.

Chances are that New Orleans and Dallas will meet for their final regular-season game in Dallas tomorrow knowing that they'll be facing one another in the first round beginning this weekend.

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San Antonio (55-26) and Utah (54-27)
The Spurs host the Jazz on Wednesday night in a contest that may be more fun than an actual playoff game. The winner most likely faces Phoenix in the first round, while the loser gets Houston. Probably.

Should San Antonio win, they'd face Phoenix (the Suns could finish with a better record than Utah, but the Jazz won the Northwest Division, and thus are guaranteed one of the top four spots ... even though you haven't seen divisional standings in your newspaper since the Patriots were still undefeated). And if that happens, the Suns will begin installing bench seatbelts.

Should Utah win, they could finish as high as 2nd in the West -- if New Orleans loses to both the Clippers and Mavs (ain't gonna happen). More likely it'd finish 3rd, jump the Spurs and face the Suns in what would be as popular a first-round series on EuroSport as it will be here.

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