"Avoid San Antonio"

Steve Kerr writes:

The San Antonio Spurs are pretty much locked into the third seed in the West, unless something dramatic happens. That means whomever is the sixth seed will be matched up with them.

Currently, the Lakers and Denver Nuggets are fighting it out for the sixth and seventh spots, and it looks like L.A. has the inside track to finish with a better record. But do the Lakers want to play San Antonio, with its championship rings and lockdown defense? Or would they prefer to face the Suns, who they put a major scare into last year? I'm guessing both Phil Jackson and George Karl would prefer to face Phoenix in the first round than San Antonio.

Personally, I'm looking forward to a Spurs-Lakers series. The teams split two close games in January, and the bad blood between them goes back more than 20 years.