NBA

NBA playoffs open with no sure thing

For once, there is no clear-cut favorite to win title

Joseph Kaczmarek / AP file

The 76ers traded for Chris Webber in an attempt to improve their chances to win an NBA title.

The Kings have won four straight first-round series but have serious injury issues. Leading scorer Peja Stojakovic is playing with a foot injury, backup guard Bobby Jackson recently returned from a wrist ligament tear and center Brad Miller will miss at least the first two games with a leg stress fracture.

The SuperSonics also are getting over some injuries. They were the surprise winners of the Northwest Division but did so with a perimeter attack, which usually doesn’t work in the postseason. Seattle has not been in the playoffs since 2002 or won a postseason series since 1998.

“Sacramento is an experienced playoff team,” Sonics All-Star forward Rashard Lewis acknowledged. “They have guys that have been to the Western Conference finals and know how to get there. We’ve got to come with our hard hats and ready to play because Sacramento isn’t going to lay down.”

The Mavericks appeared to be tooling along to another 50-win season with no postseason glory until Avery Johnson replaced Don Nelson as coach and began placing a stronger emphasis on defense. Dallas won 16 of its last 18 games and looks ready for a deep postseason run behind All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki.

“We’ve always had an emphasis on defense,” Johnson said. “I just think now we’re emphasizing it in different ways. We’ve got different personnel and we’re tending to stress the intangibles.”

The Rockets are led by All-Star tandem of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, neither of whom have won a playoff series. Dallas likely will use 7-6 Shawn Bradley to try and limit the 7-5 Yao.

Sunday sees both top seeds take their home floor as the Heat host the New Jersey Nets and the Suns entertain the Memphis Grizzlies.

A month ago, the Heat were 52-16 and appeared unbeatable. But they split their last 14 games and endured a pair of absences by O’Neal, their unstoppable superstar center who is nursing a swollen thigh.

The Nets snared the eighth seed by winning 15 of their last 19 games to overtake Cleveland. They are tremendously undersized and will have their hands full with O’Neal. But their superstar tandem of Vince Carter and Jason Kidd may get a boost from the return of Jefferson, who missed most of the season with a wrist injury.

“We have to play our A game, it’s plain and simple,” Carter said. “The level that we played the last 10-12 games, it’s going to have to be that every night, if not better than that. Some people may say that (we) can’t play any better than that. That might be true.”

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