1990’s All Team First Rounder, Western Conference

Round 1:1) Lakers vs. HornetsThe combo of Alonzo and Larry Johnson is no match for Magic, Kobe and Shaq! Lakers win in 4.2) Blazers vs. 7) SonicsThe Sonics put out one hell of a defensive backcourt, effectively shutting down Porter and Drexler for most of the series. But Rasheed in his Blazers incarnation from the year they got owned by L.A.? Kemp has nothing on that. Cliff and Co. on the Blazers bench outscore the Sonics bench, which is also more defensively oriented. Blazers in 4.3) Suns vs. 6) WarriorsKidd and KJ and “Thunder” against Run TMC? Matchup for the ages. But Barkley keeps Webber in foul trouble, forcing an aging the Warriors to guard Chuck by committee. Nothing they throw together works, so they just try to outscore them. It works once. Suns in 5.4) Rockets vs. 5) SpursHakeem and Otis are fully neutralized, and Barkley gets thrown out of the second game and is suspended for the third game. Coming into game 4 down 2-1, the Rockets rally, knocking down their threes and Francis comes up big. This one goes to 7 games, but in the end Duncan outshines the rest of the game with his fundamentally sound passes and pivots. Spurs in 7.