Making sense of the league: ouija board, anyone?

First off, let me apologize to all Suns fans for jinxing the sh*t out of Amare's return. Once I proclaimed them the Western Conference faves, Stoudemire laid 2 eggs before returning to the sideline with knee swelling. They also got punked hard by Detroit yesterday, and Chauncey Billups abused Nash on both ends of the floor. The Pistons have to be rooting for the Suns to make it out of the West; Detroit's got the one guy who can neutralize the Phoenix MVP, and if Amare doesn't suit up, the Pistons will rule the paint.

The Mavs also lost to Detroit last week, albeit in a more closely-contested game that the Pistons stretched out in the last minute on free throws. Having dropped every game they've played in '06 vs the Suns, Spurs, and Pistons, it's easy to say that Dallas has firmly cemented their status as pretender to the throne. Before you drop the hammer on them, though, remember they just got Josh Howard back from injury and Devin Harris is still on the sidelines. Yesterday, Howard harrassed Carmelo Anthony into a 9-24 brick-fest while dropping 20 on the other end. The Mavericks are obviously more formidable with their second-best player in the line-up, and once they get their underrated PG sparkplug back, they'll be scarier in April than they were in March.

The Spurs are a few wins away from wrapping up the top seed in the West, but it's anything but business as usual for San Antonio: has anyone noticed they have a new leading scorer? That's right, Tony Parker has moved a full half-point ahead of Tim Duncan for the team title despite Duncan registering 3 20/10 games in their last 4. This is a good news/bad news situation for San Antonio. That Parker can fill the void created by Duncan's injury is an exciting development; that Duncan's average has slipped below 19 ppg indicates he may not be able to dominate the paint when it matters most. By the time the Spurs fight their way to the Finals, will Duncan have enough left to battle the Pistons? Will Chauncey Billups be able to dismantle Parker like he did Nash this weekend?

Several folks have said all year that the Pistons are the clear favorites to win the title. Sure, they have a ring they lucked into against an ancient, injury-ravaged Lakers team that hobbled into the Finals, and they played the Spurs tough last year, but I've been loathe to accept that they're the best of the best. As much as Billups is underrated, players like Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince escape scrutiny for the holes in their games because they own a ring. Their bench is NBDL-esque, too, and since the East may be a tougher fight, their lack of depth could become a factor.

So where does all of this leave us as far as the title picture is concerned? Bloody f*ck if I know. The Mavs seem the easiest to discount, but the injuries could be masking a sleeping giant. The Suns without Amare might not escape a 7-gamer against a tough defensive team, but new 2-way weapons like Diaw may surprise us in the postseason. The Spurs have an elite PG but may see Duncan fade as they burrow deeper into the playoffs. The Pistons seem the favorite, but one injury could doom them, too.

Bring me the darts, Jeeves. Beats the hell out of trying to make an expert prediction.