What Went Wrong For Each Western Conference First-Round Exit

The natural order of the NBA playoffs is that out of the sixteen teams to make it into the first round, only eight will advance, leaving the other eight in the dust. Of course, that was the case in the 2024 NBA playoffs, where eight teams were eliminated in the first round: four from the Eastern Conference and four from the Western Conference.

This year’s Western Conference was a highly competitive, tightly packed race, with every team to make it into the playoffs finishing over .500 (even the Play-In teams). The eighth seed New Orleans Pelicans finished 15 games over that mark, with a record of 49-33, displaying how competitive the conference was.

When every team in the first round is competitive, it leaves less room for upsets. There are, of course, teams that are favored more than others, but in this case, higher seeds knocking off the lower seeds hardly came as a surprise since each team was capable of advancing, but it was a matter of the other team simply being better.

Therefore, there were not necessarily any upsets in the first round of the NBA playoffs in the Western Conference. The top three seeds won their rounds, leaving the lower seed losers in the dust. But there were more complicated matters as to why each team lost, rather than being the lower seed. Here is what went wrong for each Western Conference team that departed in the first round.

1 Phoenix Suns

The Suns were swept in the first round due to a lack of productivity from the Big Three

The Phoenix Suns were the first team to be eliminated from the 2024 NBA playoffs, suffering an embarrassing first-round sweep by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The T’Wolves finally exercised their first-round-exit demons, and it came at the hands of the Suns, who simply could not play consistently enough to compete.

The Suns finished the regular season with a record of 49-33, which granted them a sixth place in the Western Conference due to certain tiebreakers. On paper, the Suns were the squad to win it, assembling a superteam featuring a ‘big three’ of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal.

But the three never really meshed when on the court, leading to an overall record of 25-20 in games they played together, including the playoffs. The series against Minnesota was never really competitive for that reason (and the loss of Grayson Allen, a crucial three-point shooter, in Game 1), as they were handed a four-game sweep.

2 New Orleans Pelicans

The loss of Zion Williamson was the primary factor for the Pelicans’ exit

The New Orleans Pelicans were a Play-In Team, finishing with the eighth seed in the Western Conference at 49-33. They opened their postseason by losing a crucial game to the seventh-seed Los Angeles Lakers (who also lost in the first round, more on that later) but won when it mattered, defeating the Sacramento Kings in the final Play-In game.

That earned the Pelicans the right to face the juggernaut Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The Thunder have proven themselves to be a truly formidable foe as they possess all of the tools necessary to become the NBA’s next dynasty. They flexed their might in the first round, sweeping the Pelicans right out of the playoffs in the opening round.

But perhaps the Pelicans’ push would have gone a bit differently if not for the loss of Zion Williamson. He suffered an injury towards the end of the team’s Play-In game with the Lakers and did not return for the rest of the playoffs. Williamson averaged 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists this season, and was the primary benefactor in the Pelicans’ lineup throughout the season.

It isn’t likely that the Pelicans would have beaten the Thunder in the first round even with a healthy Williamson, but it is a definite conclusion that they would have at least been more competitive. New Orleans was held to 92 or fewer points in all four of their games against Oklahoma City, and perhaps that number would have been a bit higher if Williamson was in the lineup.

3 Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers were eliminated due to being outschemed by the Nuggets

For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from postseason contention by the Denver Nuggets. This year, however, the elimination came much more swiftly as the two met in the first round after the Lakers defeated the Pelicans in the Play-In Game. But the result was almost the same as last year when Denver swept L.A. Now, they finished them off in five.

The Lakers have been mired with inconsistency, and most pointed fingers at former coach Darvin Ham. Of course, the Lakers were heavy underdogs against a stacked Nuggets team, who simply outplayed them.

But mixed signals were sent between Ham and the players this season. His losing of the locker room led to he and the team simply being outschemed by the Nuggets and his subsequent firing.

4 Los Angeles Clippers

The loss of Kawhi Leonard aided in the elimination of the Clippers

The closest series in the Western Conference was the battle between the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks. It was the longest series of the first round for the Western Conference, being the only one to go at least six games. Its conclusion meant that both Los Angeles teams would fail to make it out of the first round in 2024.

The Mavericks defeated the Clippers to advance to the Conference Semifinals, while the Clippers once again are left on the outside looking in. The Clippers simply did not have an answer for the elite one-two punch of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, who were clicking on all cylinders in this series.

But even if they did, they simply lacked the firepower to respond with Kawhi Leonard being sidelined. Leonard missed four of the six games in the series due to knee inflammation. He is a critical piece of the Clippers’ rotation but has only played in four of the Clippers’ last 19 playoff games.

That, combined with the shooting woes of Paul George (6 of 18 from the field and 2 of 10 from three) and James Harden (5 of 16 from the field and 0 for 6 from three) in Game 6, sealed the deal for L.A.

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