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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. Air Max China . 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." Discount Air Max . - Because they didnt go into Beast Mode, the Seattle Seahawks found themselves in Spin Mode. Wholesale Air Max .com) - Nino Williams posted 18 points and seven rebounds, as Kansas State edged No. http://www.cheapairmaxstore.com/ .C. -- The Charlotte Bobcats said head coach Steve Clifford underwent a successful procedure Friday to have two stents placed in his heart.ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- Two men authorities say were in a car with former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez before one of his friends was shot to death were in custody on Friday, one charged with illegally carrying a gun and the other accused of being an accessory after murder. Prosecutors, who this week charged Hernandez with murder, havent said who fired the shots that killed his friend Odin Lloyd, a Boston semi-pro football player. Carlos Ortiz, who was arrested in Connecticut but was transferred to Massachusetts to face the gun charge, and Ernest Wallace, who walked into a South Florida police station to surrender, were identified earlier as being with Hernandez and Lloyd the night of his shooting death, a prosecutor said. Ortiz was charged Friday with carrying an unlicensed firearm in North Attleborough on June 17, the day Lloyd was found shot to death near Hernandezs home there. Details of the charge werent released. Wallace, whose wanted poster was released Thursday night, surrendered in Miramar, Fla., police said. Authorities had been seeking Wallace on a charge of acting as an accessory after Lloyds murder. Details of that allegation also werent released. Police arrested Hernandez on Wednesday at his home and charged him with orchestrating Lloyds execution-style shooting. Prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated the killing because Lloyd talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace were in a Nissan Altima with Lloyd shortly before his death, Bristol County, Mass., District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said. "We now have in custody the three individuals who were in the silver Nissan Altima," Sutter said Friday when Ortiz was arraigned on the gun charge in Attleboro District Court. All three men have ties to Bristol, Conn.: Hernandez grew up there, Ortiz had been living there and authorities had conflicting addresses for Wallace there and in Miramar. Hernandez pleaded not guilty to murder and was denied bail Thursday. Ortiz also was being held without bail pending a court hearing on July 9. Wallace was taken to a jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pending extradition proceedings, police said. Hernandezs lawyer argued in court that the case is circumstantial. He said Hernandez, who was cut by the Patriots the day he was arrested, wanted to clear his name. Ortizs attorney, John Connors, said he will seek bail for his client at the July 9 hearing. He described Ortiz as a "gentle person" and said he will advise Ortiz to plead not guilty. "I can say that his charge has nothing to do with homicide," Connors said. Wallace walked into the police station and told officers there was a warrant for his arrest, which officers confirmed bby checking a computer database. Cheap Nike Air Max Shoes Wholesale. "He stated he knew he had a warrant because he saw himself on TV," Miramar police Officer Gil Bueno said. "He was very co-operative. It was uneventful." An attorney for Wallace, David Meier, told The Boston Globe that his client was visiting his mother and other relatives in Miramar when he realized he was wanted in Massachusetts and went to police. Meier said Wallace intends to return to Massachusetts "as soon as possible." Earlier Friday, Ortiz appeared in Bristol Superior Court in Connecticut, where a judge authorized turning him over to a Massachusetts state trooper and a North Attleborough officer. A friend and a relative of Ortiz said outside the courthouse that they were stunned by his arrest. They said Ortiz is the devoted father of two girls and a boy, all under the age of 9. Ortiz was unemployed recently but previously worked a long time at a Savers clothing store, they said. They also said they couldnt believe Ortiz could be part of a murder. "Hes not that type of person. He has a good heart," said friend Milton Montesdeoca, who added he didnt know Hernandez and never heard Ortiz talk about the football star. Also Friday, authorities said law enforcement officers recovered in Bristol a car Wallace was seen driving before he surrendered. Meanwhile, Lloyds relatives were preparing for his funeral in Boston on Saturday. A relative said the service will be at Church of the Holy Spirit in the citys Mattapan section. Lloyd played for the Boston Bandits and was dating the sister of Hernandezs fiancee. Authorities have said trouble that led to Lloyds killing happened June 14, when Lloyd went with Hernandez to a Boston nightclub. Hernandez became upset when Lloyd began talking with people Hernandez apparently didnt like, prosecutors said. On June 16, the night before the slaying, a prosecutor said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut. A few minutes later, he texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, prosecutors said. Authorities say the three men picked up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. June 17, drove him to an industrial park near Hernandezs home and shot him five times. Prosecutors said an ammunition clip was found in Hernandezs Hummer and matched the calibre of casings found at the scene of Lloyds killing. Hernandez, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 and signed a five-year contract worth $40 million last summer, could face life in prison if convicted. ------ Collins reported from Bristol, Conn. Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Boston and Michael Melia in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report. ' ' '