MIAMI -- Before the season started, a poll suggested that the Miami Heat were the overwhelming favourite to win the NBA title, collecting a whopping 76 per cent of ballots cast. The voters werent some know-nothings, either. No, this was a polling of NBA general managers. Things seem quite a bit different now. The Heat dont seem like locks for a third straight title anymore. San Antonio and Indiana are top seeds. Brooklyn, Chicago, the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City, Golden State, Houston, Portland and the Heat all figure to have a legitimate chance at being the club to hoist the Larry OBrien Trophy in a couple of months. Usually, the NBA playoffs arent so wide open. Things might change over the next couple of months. "There are 16 teams that have a chance to win it," said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks, whose team is seeded No. 2 in the West. "If youre in the playoffs, you have a chance. There are some good teams. Any team can beat each other. The West is deep. There are two teams that are really good that didnt make it and had great years. Its definitely open. Theres a lot of good basketball teams that are fighting for the championship." For as good as San Antonio and Indiana were all year -- well, for most of the year in Indianas case, before the Pacers faltered down the stretch -- its never a certainty that the No. 1 seeds reach the NBA Finals. Its happened that way only 11 times in the last 35 years. Then again, the last time that there wasnt either a No. 1 or a No. 2 in the title series was 1978. So while upsets can happen, its not all that common to see bracket craziness -- akin to a No. 7 and No. 8 seeds Connecticut and Kentucky playing for the NCAA title earlier this month -- happening in the same NBA playoff season. "It is going to be tremendous from a fans standpoint, watching," Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. "It going to be a lot of fun." Brooklyns Jason Kidd has plenty of post-season experience as a player. He believes the NBA championship is up for grabs, but also probably knows history doesnt favour his sixth-seeded club. Since 1979, only five teams seeded No. 4 or lower in their conference have reached the finals. But Kidd sees reason for hope. "Its always wide open," said Kidd, the first-year coach of the Nets -- a veteran-laden team put together to win a title this season. "You guys sometimes limit it to just two teams but guys that are playing on a daily basis in the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference feel like theyve got a chance." This year, that doesnt just seem like coach speak. Take the East. On paper, the biggest mismatch is No. 1 Indiana against No. 8 Atlanta, especially because the Hawks are the only sub-.500 team in the playoffs. And just a couple weeks ago, the Hawks went to Indianapolis and absolutely embarrassed the Pacers, running out to a 32-point halftime lead in one of the more stunning games of the entire NBA season. "Theres some good teams out there," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Every team in the playoffs have given us some problems. Weve been able to win against them as well. But its certainly shaped out to be a good conference." No. 5 Washington won the season series over No. 4 Chicago. Out West, the third-seeded Clippers and sixth-seeded Golden State split four meetings. Memphis ousted Oklahoma City a year ago and those clubs meet in the first round. And San Antonios quest to avenge last years loss in the NBA Finals starts against Dallas -- the last team to beat Miami in a seven-game series, winning the title in 2011. So there are some good stories, and theres intrigue with every first-round series. That doesnt mean everyone in the league thinks itll be a year laden with surprises. Philadelphia coach Brett Brown put it simply -- to him, the game changes in the playoffs, period. "The regular season and the playoffs are like two different sports," Brown said. "If you put me in a bubble and you drag me out in May, I can say this is different than the game Im seeing in November. Its just entirely different." Thats why Brown, a former Spurs assistant, thinks theres a very small number of teams capable of winning it all. "To be the last man standing is so ridiculously hard," Brown said. "People have no idea what its like to play in June." Air Max 97 Nintendo 64 For Sale . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace. Air Max 97 Ultra 17 Red .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2. http://www.outletairmax97.com/cheap-air-...ultra-17.html.J. - The New York Jets have signed former Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Graham Harrell, giving them some added depth at the position. Air Max 97 Vapormax For Sale . Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was also taken to three sets but emerged with a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win over Tobias Kamke of Germany, while second-seeded David Ferrer joined Murray in making an early exit after a 6-4, 7-5 loss to Daniel Brands of Germany. Air Max 97 Vapormax Cheap . - The Mavericks built a 12-point lead with 2:50 to play, gave away all but two points of it, and still managed to hang on.RENTON, Wash. - At some point every week, Pete Carroll will describe the upcoming opponent as a championship opportunity.Every week. Without fail. No matter the quality of the competition or the setting of the game. The end goal is that when a big game arrives — like last Februarys Super Bowl, or Sundays NFC West showdown with Arizona — its handled in the same way as any other week.Were not going into this game thinking were unfamiliar with it or its going to be something we dont know how to handle or whats up. We dont feel like that at all, Carroll said Wednesday. That comes from years of experience and being through it and a bunch of young guys now that theyre pretty well experienced at the timing of these kinds of games.That attitude and approach took a while to kick in. Richard Sherman first noticed it when Seattle won at Washington in the 2012 NFC playoffs. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett — newcomers during Seattles title run in 2013 — started to understand where Carroll was coming from about midway through the regular season.Its all about preparing the same, dont get too high because its a Monday night game or because its a 1 p.m. game or whatever, Avril said. Treat every game the same and youll get probably the same results.Clearly what Carroll has implemented has worked. For the fourth time in Carrolls five seasons with Seattle, the Seahawks are in contention for a division title going into the final weeks of the regular season.But after being in control of home-field advantage and the No. 1 seed for most of last season, this Week 16 showdown with Arizona is significant.A win by the Cardinals gives them the NFC West title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, needing just two wins to play in the Super Bowl on their home field.For the Seahawks, a victory wouldnt guarantee a playoff spot unless they get some help earlier in the day. But it would potentially leave Seattle needing just a home victory over St. Louis in Week 17 to clinch the division title and home-field advantage.ddddddddddddTwo wins would give Seattle the No. 1 seed in the NFC as long as it doesnt finish in a tie at 12-4 with Dallas, in which case the Cowboys would hold the tiebreaker. Seattle would win any two-way tiebreakers with Detroit, Green Bay or Arizona and all three-way tiebreakers go in favour of the Seahawks.Why is that important for Seattle? Over the past three seasons, playoffs included, the Seahawks are 23-2 at home and have outscored opponents by an average of 14 points per game.I think its important that if youre going to play at your best and perform at a very high level you have to be comfortable with the setting, and if youre uncomfortable and unsure it can make a difference and distract you some, Carroll said. We have that going for us. We feel very good about that. We have been in winning situations in December and its been the chance for us to do some really good things and weve come through for a good part of that.While Seattle tries to keep important games on the same level as every other matchup, Arizona coach Bruce Arians said Wednesday he wants his players to embrace the scope of Sundays matchup.You dont get to play for the damn thing very often so its not like Seattles played for it for a hundred damn years. Im sure theyre embracing it also, Arians said. So you fight your (rear) off all year to play for this game and sure you embrace it but you dont change how you prepare for it, its still the same process.NOTES: Seattle C Max Unger (ankle/knee) did not practice Wednesday. Carroll said Unger struggled to recover from his work last week. Hes missed the last four games. ... LT Russell Okung (chest) is still in the mix for Sunday but was scheduled to have additional exams on Thursday to check his recovery from a bruised lung. ... G J.R. Sweezy (ankle) did not practice Wednesday.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '