Two of the NBA brightest stars may be on the outside looking in when the playoffs start despite playing on a potential 50 win team.

Much has been made about the race leading up to the NHL’s post-season but with all apologies to the Washington Capitals and their rise from 9^th in the Eastern Conference to the third seed in their 82^nd game of the year quite frankly the NHL’s playoff race pales in comparison to the intriguing and downright unreal playoff race that’s currently going on in the NBA.  We’re on the verge of seeing a 50-win club finish in the 9^th seed and miss out on the playoffs in the Western Conference which is as ridiculous as Memphis guard Derrick Rose’s Gummi Bears, Twizzlers and Starburst diet.

Let that sink in for a second, a team with a .600 winning percentage is not going to be part of the 16-team group that’s heading for the postseason. Either the Golden State Warriors or the Denver Nuggets are about to go down in infamy later this month as the only 50+ win club in NBA history to miss out on the playoffs.  It’s absolutely mind boggling.

As if that’s not strange enough, the NBA’s Eastern Conference has its own interesting playoff race story going on.  

Aside from the top 3 seeds, the Celtics, Pistons and Magic, no other team has a winning percentage near .600. In fact the Atlanta Hawks will likely “earn” the 8^th seed with an under .500 record. If the Warriors or Nuggets were in the topsy-turvy Eastern Conference they would be a 4-seed and have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs but instead one of these teams will likely have a date with the New Orleans Hornets and MVP-candidate Chris Paul while the other team will begin their off-season early and ponder as to what went wrong.

I’m not being cliché when I bring up the astonishing Western Conference playoff race and lament over the fact that one of these teams will be on the outside looking in when basketball’s second season begins because every year there’s a team that garners all the fan sentiment when either injuries derail a playoff bid, or a late-season improbable winning stretch comes up just short and leaves the team falling just short of the playoffs.  This season’s different though. Just look at the two suitors for the 8^th seed and ask yourself who you wouldn’t want to see in the opening round? Both of these teams are fully capable of pulling off an upset and going on a mini-inspired run.

It’s interesting to note the similarities between these clubs.

G-State is the highest scoring team in the league while Denver ranks 2nd.

Inversely the Warriors are also the worst defensive team in the league and inversely the Nuggets are also the second worst defensive team in the league.

Both of these teams would spice up the playoff scene immensely and the pros of each of these teams being in the playoffs are numerous.

The Golden State Warriors have fantastic fans that were reborn with last season’s “We Believe!” playoff 1^st round upset over the Dallas Mavericks which has carried over to this season. The Warriors boast the likes of Baron Davis who when he isn’t hanging out with the likes of Jessica Alba and Emmanuelle Chriqui is posterizing Andrei Kirilenko and embodying the role of clutch performer. Additionally G-State has the unheralded Monta Ellis who is the best high school to pros player that nobody has heard of.

The Denver Nuggets on the other side are the most exciting team in the league both for their skill on the offensive side and their lack of apparent strategy on the defensive end. In Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson the Nuggets have the most lethal and dangerous offensive combination in the league; combined they average over 52 PPG and individually A.I. and Melo are third and fourth respectively in league scoring. Throw in the always entertaining Kenyon Martin, the mercurial J.R. Smith and a cast of Marcus Camby, Nene and Linus Kleiza and it’s easy to see why everyone in the league is pinning for the Nuggets to creep their way into the post-season as the 8^th seed.

I can’t believe I’m actually going to look to the CFL as the voice of reason here, but wouldn’t it be fantastic if just for this once the NBA could allow either the Nuggets or Warriors to cross over to the Eastern Conference and bump the undeserving, first round fodder likes of Atlanta out?