The NBA conference finals are here. I'm sure you two NBA fans have been following along, right? There have been some great series this year already. In fact, I think the best might be behind us, but I hope not.
The two Clippers series both went to game 7. They came out of the first round with a win against the defending champs, the Spurs. Most the the NBA world predicted those two would meet in the conference championships, with a slight majority picking the Clips to win. That series looked like a conference championship series. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are fun to watch. It's hard to believe that they blew the round two series against the Rockets. Doc Rivers has the dubious honor of being the guy that has coached TWO of the nine teams that have lost a playoff series after leading 3-1 (he did it with Orlando against Detroit in 2003). That has to smart a bit.
As much as I don't like Dwight Howard, I find that I love watching the Rockets, primarily because of James Harden. That guy is a beast. I don't think a day goes by that the OKC Thunder don't regret letting him go, because they haven't been the same since. Nobody was talking about the Rockets getting this far early in the season, so it's fun to see a couple of teams make the conference finals that haven't been there for awhile (Rockets 96-97 and Warriors 75-76). Golden State is just killing it with the Curry/Thompson duo. Curry is the MVP this year, and I've always liked Steve Kerr, so I'm happy to see him make it as far as he has as a coach. What's not to like? But Houston will give them a tough go. My Western Conference finals prediction is Golden State in 7. BTW, none of the six Sports Illustrated staffers that wrote playoff predictions at the beginning of the season picked either Golden State or Houston to be in the conference finals. They were all Spurs, Clips, or OKC.
The Eastern Conference hasn't been quite as compelling for me. In fact, in my mind, the Western conference is all that really matters. I can't believe that the Wizards made it as far as they did, and they might have even squeaked into the conference finals had Paul Pierce made a couple of key shots in a couple of games. I was watching game 5 against the Hawks when he has a WIDE open look at a three to tie it in regulation - he was way off. You guys know how I feel about him, so I enjoyed it. I didn't watch game six, but I read that he missed a couple of big shots in that one too.
EVERYONE in the world predicted the Bulls and the Cavaliers in the conference finals. They were off by one round. I was a little surprised to see the Cavs get by the Bulls at all, let along in six. They are the same team they used to be with one star (LeBron) and a bunch of so-so guys. Even Kevin Love has been a shell of himself this year - just another mediocre player. The Hawks are playing good basketball right now, and they are the number one seed. It's kind of interesting that if you look at their roster you'll likely say, "How are these guys so good?" The Hawks are another team that no one predicted to be here. Those six SI staffers? They all had Cavs/Bulls in the conference finals. I'm not sure how to call this one, but I don't think it matters. I'll say the Hawks in six.
In the end, Golden State will win the championship in five. You heard it here first fellas!
As a final NBA-related note, I hardly could find a sports writer on the internet who predicted someone OTHER than LeBron James to win the MVP this year, and he wasn't even really in the conversation.
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