Western Conference Playoff Chess Match Gets Into The Weeds

The Western Conference playoff picture is being broken down with the kind of detail only the postseason demands. At this stage, every matchup becomes a tug-of-war over matchups, structure, and who can survive the bad shifts without bleeding the game open. The best teams in the West rarely win pretty, and that is exactly why the margins matter here. This analysis focuses on the little edges that decide who keeps skating and who starts planning the exit interviews.