NBA Playoffs first round preview, predictions: Western Conference elite should cruise ahead

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) drives around Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cameron Payne (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Mar 28, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the net against Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell (24) during the first half at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers scores a basket against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half of the basketball game at Staples Center April 12, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP)

Click through for previews, analysis and predictions for the Western Conference’s first-round play-off games.

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• First round schedule, UAE times

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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS V HOUSTON ROCKETS

• Regular season head-to-head 3-0 Warriors

This is so bad a pairing it almost isn’t worth analysing. The Rockets of a year ago played decent defence, had James Harden at peak levels, and gave Golden State a smidge of trouble in the Western Conference finals. The Rockets of this year are much worse, the Warriors are a level better and this should be a fairly merciless series.

• Prediction Warriors in 4

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SAN ANTONIO SPURS V MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

• Regular season head-to-head 4-0 Spurs

The Grizzlies have been bleeding and clawing their way to the finish since what feels like January. They finished the season on a 7-16 run and we are almost assuredly about to witness a particularly unceremonious end to the Marc Gasol-Zach Randolph-Mike Conley era at the hands of San Antonio. Here’s a prediction: this series proves even more lopsided than Golden State-Houston.

• Prediction Spurs in 4

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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER V DALLAS MAVERICKS

• Regular season head-to-head 4-0 Thunder

Are there vulnerabilities to Oklahoma City? Sure. Their defence can be leaky, their depth is suspect behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and they too often play an outdated, deferential style that relies too heavily on the prodigious talents of their two stars. Are these vulnerabilities the Mavericks are well-equipped to take advantage of? No. A subdued send-off for Dirk Nowitzki, if it is his end.

• Prediction Thunder in 4

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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS V PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

• Regular season head-to-head Clippers 3-1

Hey this is actually a pretty interesting series! Damian Lillard is the kind of imposes-his-will-heat-check player who can steal a game in a play-off series, and the Trail Blazers are good at choking off the kind of mid-range space Chris Paul and Blake Griffin thrive in. Statistically, they are also the NBA’s stiffest defence inside six feet (though the Clips took the fewest shots inside 10 feet in the league). Portland will be able to trouble Los Angeles – they’re a young, long team who can shape-shift well, and it’s a decent match-up for them ... until you get outside. There, the Clippers are an elite two-way team, capable of stifling Portland’s greatest strength (three-point shooting) and exploiting their greatest weakness (three-point defending). Los Angeles will ultimately overwhelm a resilient Portland team.

• Prediction Clippers in 6