For every postseason matchup, Ball Don't Lie's resident dummy will offer a topically appropriate entry from the best-selling series of "Deep Thoughts" books written by legendary humorist Jack Handey, plus some of his own original thoughts on the playoff series. The combination will cost you literally nothing; we suggest you use the savings to purchase one of Mr. Handey's life-changing books.

No. 1 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers

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If it sounds like excuse-making, it's because we're actually making excuses. The Memphis Grizzlies' were hit by two body blows early in the season when it lost Darrell Arthur for the season, and Zach Randolph for the bulk of the campaign soon after. Randolph came back to the active roster following his MCL tear, but he failed to consistently bring the sort of sturdy low-post presence that he provided in spades for this group in 2010-11. As a result, the team couldn't rely on its horse as much in Sunday's Game 7, and the Grizzlies lost to a limping Clippers team at home.

That's going to sting until the fall, but Grizzlies fans have to be realistic about what to expect from this group. Everything centers around Randolph, and though Marc Gasol is one of the best pivots in the NBA and Mike Conley had a fabulous postseason until Game 7, scoring is scoring and scoring is important and the Grizz win when Zach puts it in. And because he never could get into basketball shape or strength (not his fault, rehabbing that injury takes time), the Grizz couldn't unleash their game changer at full capacity.

Perhaps we're being too optimistic, but this is still a team to fear entering 2012-13. Arthur's presence was exactly what the Grizzlies needed in Game 7, as the Clippers bench ran roughshod all over Memphis' pine, and Randolph will hopefully be at full strength (he's been known to go a bit pear-shaped over the summer) by the time training camp sparks up. Before then the team's front office can settle in for some tough decisions. Very tough.

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Los Angeles Clippers 82, Memphis Grizzles 72 (Los Angeles wins series, 4-3)

Fatigue was obvious from the outset in this game. Fans are correct to eagerly look forward to Game 7s, because the possibility of a winner take all 48-minute term between two evenly matched teams will always be enticing, but familiarity can breed something more than contempt in these types of battles. It can breed tired legs, lack of innovation, and obscure game-changers.

The Clippers and Grizzlies have played each other 10 times since Jan. 26, and as a result of that (and both teams' aggressive, bruising play) this game was hardly a beauty to behold. Toss in the fact that the squads had finished play just about 36 hours ago in Friday night's Game 6, and the various important parts that were playing through injury, and the whole thing was kind of a letdown.

[Related: Derided coach Vinny Del Negro sounds off after Clippers' Game 7 win]

There were encouraging signs on Los Angeles' end, and not just because the team survives to live another day. The Clippers will be locked into an every-other-day schedule until the space between Games 3 and 4 of their impending series with the San Antonio Spurs gives the Clips' two days "off." Because of this, the group is not going to get much time off to rest Chris Paul's various midsection injuries and Blake Griffin's recovering knee, and the team is going to need the bench to step up.

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Memphis Grizzlies 90, Los Angeles Clippers 88 (series tied, friends, at 3-3)

It's been a nasty series, full of flops, strange possessions, dodgy officiating, and low scoring. But it's also been, by many accounts, the best series in the first round. It's the Grizzlies and Clippers — now 100 percent lottery free — and it's going to seven games. And we couldn't be happier.

The Grizzlies prevailed in Game 6, but this game really did come down to the obvious absence of the Chris Paul we all know and love and sometimes pick series' based on how well he'll play. The Clippers won't make such excuses (save for the team's coach, perhaps), but Paul really was a shell of himself on Friday night, especially in the fourth quarter when the Clippers needed him most. Paul finished with 11 points on nine shots with five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three turnovers. Not a terrible line in the slightest, but a far cry from the sort of MVP-level production that the Clippers need to make a difference in these playoffs.

No excuses, there, but Paul's limited mobility wasn't even made up for by a tough and determined performance from Blake Griffin. Griffin was also hobbled, and it showed, but he still put together a 17-point night with six assists and five rebounds. And it wasn't enough, because the Memphis Grizzlies made damn sure of it.

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Miami Heat 106, New York Knicks 94 (Miami wins series, 4-1)

It's hardly a novel realization, though Lord knows we've attempted to relay as much in the wake of this game, but it stands as a pretty profound one. The Miami Heat are a scary basketball team, as has been the case since the team's opener on Christmas Day, and it's going to take quite a lot to take them out four times in a seven-game playoff term. The New York Knicks attempted this, in early spring, and could only manage to take one game in five tries. And as poorly as New York played at times, this was only about 13 percent their fault.

Our sensible yet heartbroken Dan Devine will have more on his Knicks' future later on Thursday, so for now you're going to have to hear about Ball Don't Lie fawning over the Miami Heat. Not so much resigned to the fact that the team will take the championship — we think there could still be obstacle(s?) along the way in the East, and several teams out west could pick and probe once the Finals hit — but because this team is such an odd monster that we're not exactly clear what is best built to knock it over.

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Memphis Grizzlies 105, Los Angeles Clippers 98 (series tied, 1-1)

After a miserable night of basketball that saw the Pacers and Spurs win by a combined 54 points, a reasonably competitive Clippers-Grizzlies contest was a needed tonic -- but hardly much to behold. It was sometimes fun to watch as Tony Allen and Zach Randolph worked their way back to respective health, and Chris Paul featured his typically pugnacious ways, but the back-and-forth never truly delivered.

You think Memphis cares? The Grizzlies hung in this one quite well, forcing 20 Clippers turnovers and essentially beating Los Angeles to every crease, or every either-way call. Paul was fantastic for most of the game, totaling 29 points on 17 shots (our man hit 4 of 6 threes) with five steals. He also turned the ball over five times to just six assists, and it was O.J. Mayo that absolutely hounded CP3 into oblivion.

Relatively speaking, of course. Chris Paul, for the most part, was still Chris Paul.

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With 28.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 1 on Sunday, the Memphis Grizzlies found themselves clinging to a one-point lead after a furious comeback by a Los Angeles Clippers team that had been down as many as 27 points late in the third. Vinny Del Negro put the ball in the hands of Chris Paul, the man entrusted with changing the fortunes of the Clippers' franchise, and relied on him to make a play against Memphis lockdown artist Tony Allen, one of the league's best perimeter defenders.

With just over 25 seconds left, Paul started his move, driving right on Allen, who seemed to have pretty good position — he stayed outside CP3's right foot, directing Paul back across his body toward Memphis' big-bodied interior, and actually influenced Paul into picking up his dribble. But as Paul raised the ball above his head, Allen reached in looking for a tie-up and instead fouled the point guard. Paul hit two free throws with 23.7 seconds left, Rudy Gay's attempt for a game-winning answer fell short, and the Clippers took a 1-0 lead.

After the final buzzer, we got the thrill of victory, in the form of Chris Paul's postgame fashion tips for TNT's Craig Sager:

... and we also got the agony of defeat, as Allen took to Twitter to take the blame for failing to shut Paul down:

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The 66-game regular season, mercifully, is over. The NBA jam-packed 66 games into a space where 50 usually went, and the result was a strange five-month run that had us talking about rested legs and oddball rotations more than we spoke of learning and growing and all that typically mindful stuff that comes to our heads when discussing the NBA. The playoffs start on Saturday, though, and the brains behind Ball Don't Lie are ready to break down the first-round matchups.

[Related: Yahoo! Sports' predictions for the 2012 NBA playoffs]

We continue with the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers.

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Heading into the final night of the NBA's slapdash lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, we know which 16 teams will be playing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy come this weekend, and we have four matchups set. In the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded Indiana Pacers will take on the No. 6 Orlando Magic, who clinched their seeding with a 102-95 Wednesday win over the Charlotte Bobcats, while the No. 4 Boston Celtics will square off against the No. 5 Atlanta Hawks. Out west, the San Antonio Spurs (the conference's top seed for the second straight year) will face the eighth-seeded Utah Jazz, while Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will lead the Los Angeles Clippers into a 4-5 matchup with last year's postseason darlings, the Memphis Grizzlies.

That's what we know. So what don't we know? Well, for starters, who's going to have home-court advantage in C's/Hawks and Clips/Grizz? Who are the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder going to face in the first round? Where do the defending champion Dallas Mavericks fit into the mix?

[Related: Miami Heat fan punches Suns' Gorilla mascot at Arizona appearance]

By the end of Thursday's slate, we'll have the answers to those questions and more. Let's take a brief look at which games mean what in terms of playoff positioning Thursday night.

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The Utah Jazz scored a 100-88 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, a hard-fought, well-earned victory that punched their ticket as the 16th and final entrant into this year's NBA playoffs. First-time playoff coach Tyrone Corbin owed the win, in large part, to fantastic performances by three members of his meat-grinder frontcourt — sterling starters Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, plus ready reserve Derrick Favors — who put a game-long hurting on the Suns.

Phoenix's frontcourt entered the game down a body, as Channing Frye sat due to a right shoulder injury. But with all due respect to the 6-foot-11 Arizona product, who performed well this season and has turned himself into a nice contributor with his ability to stretch defenses, even a healthy Frye wouldn't have meant much on Tuesday; the Suns' front line just wasn't physically equipped or prepared to answer the bell against Utah's three-headed monster.

Jefferson (18 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, two blocks), Millsap (26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three steals) and Favors (13 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks) bruised and battered Suns bigs Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez and Markieff Morris. As Steve Luhm noted post-game at the Salt Lake Tribune, the Jazz bigs were strongest with the game in the balance late, combining for 19 points and 18 rebounds in the final 12 minutes to return Utah to the postseason.

It was a dominant performance by a lineup that an elated Jackson Rudd of Jazz blog Salt City Hoops called "so good that it doesn't even make sense." Whether or not it makes sense, the assessment is spot-on; a look inside the numbers shows that the Jazz have been positively frightening when the three big men share the floor.

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