(PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Szczerbowski/USA Today.)
The conference finals are here! Only four teams remain in the hunt for that elusive NBA championship.
Let’s take a quick look-see on each conference.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS vs #2 TORONTO RAPTORS
So we did get the best two teams in the East in this conference final.
But I’ve mentioned all season is that it’s Cleveland in the East and then there’s the rest. It’s also bad news for the Raptors that while they’ve already played a full slate of 14 games in the last month, it’s almost like the Cavaliers just had an offseason break. The Cavs have swept through the playoffs thus far and, for even more bad news for Canada, they are peaking at the right time. Plus they actually seem to like each other now.
The Cavs have destroyed the postseason with great ball movement and three-point shooting. It’s almost like they’re the Golden State Warriors. This is the best we’ve seen the trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love play together. And this team annihilated the outstanding Atlanta Hawks defense. So does T Dot even stand a chance?
We’re basically entering Lloyd Christmas territory with this series. What IS encouraging is that Kyle Lowry is playing his best in the postseason entering this series. And Lowry was awesome against the Cavs in the regular season, averaging 31.0 points and 8.3 assists in three games. Oh, and the Raptors won the season series against Cleveland, 2-1.
But Toronto won’t have Jonas Valanciunas for Game 1 and possibly Game 2. DeMar DeRozan, while aggressive, needs to be more efficient. Can DeMarre Carroll put a dent to that LeBron tank? Can a rotation of guards throw Kyrie Irving off his game? Can they get Kevin Love lost on defense?
I just don’t think Toronto can muster much here unless funky health issues happen with the Cavs. They’ll probably win an emotional game in Canada but even I’m kind of questioning that.
The Land should go to their second straight NBA Finals easily.
PREDICTION: CLEVELAND IN 5.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Nate Billings/The Oklahoman.)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS vs #3 OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
We were denied of a potentially epic Warriors/Spurs series but who’s going to complain about this one? We’ve got the two best offensive teams in the league and we’re going to see a ton of buckets being made. A TON.
The Thunder absolutely have a good chance to win this series. Once again, there’s that dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Westbrook’s relentless attack gives opposing team’s nightmares. Durant is the calm to his teammate’s chaos and he’s a dreadful match-up for anybody.
OKC killed San Antonio on the glass with their bigs Steven Adams and Enes Kanter. But I’m not sure how that will work against the Warriors, who make teams that play big pay big-time. Adams may be good enough to come out to the perimeter but that would leave a huge question mark in Kanter. Kanter surprisingly held his own defensively against the Spurs but what if he’s left alone on an island by himself?
Speaking of islands, the Warriors will definitely leave Andre Roberson and make him shoot jumpers. Golden State’s help defense is terrifying and the Thunder obviously don’t want to play four-on-five, even if the Sacramento Kings owner thinks that’s a great strategy. Dion Waiters is coming into the series playing some great ball (also controversial, right?). Serge Ibaka is also red hot from behind the arc (.541 in the playoffs!). The Thunder just have to find the right approach to counter the Warriors.
On the Warriors’ side, Stephen Curry emphatically returned against the Blazers but knee issues can be funny and unpredictable. Roberson is going to draw the assignment on Curry as he is their best perimeter defender (which is why it’s paramount for Roberson to make shots). Klay Thompson has been sensational in the playoffs as the #1 option with Curry out; Mychal’s son is averaging 27.2 points and shooting .475 from three. Draymond Green has been his usual Swiss Army knife self. Green, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Shaun Livingston will all take turns containing Durant. And I hope to see some sort of bar fight between Adams and Andrew Bogut.
The Warriors swept the season series against the Thunder but as you know, the playoffs are different. OKC was notorious for being shaky in the fourth quarter but they held their poise against the emotionless Spurs squad. But now they’re going against the reigning, defending champions, who specialize on both ripping hearts early… and ripping hearts late.
Golden State is so versatile that they make every opposing team adjust to them. But if the Warriors end up having to scramble plans, the Thunder have a great chance to go back to the NBA Finals.
I see a Finals rematch coming up. But trust me when I say this: it’s NOT going to be easy. And this can go either way, especially if you take Curry’s knee into account.
PREDICTION: GOLDEN STATE IN 6.
Follow Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass for all tweets about the NBA and terrible pop music. Also, check out his podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental.
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