After all the action the four teams left are the top two seeds in their conference. Four teams left in the playoffs and any one of them can make a run for the title. Let's see who will advance to the Finals and who will be going home:
THE EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Atlanta Hawks vs #2 Cleveland Cavaliers- These were the top two teams in the East and the two teams that many picked to make it to the conference finals. But both of these teams are drastically different now than in the regular season. The Wizards were 0.1 seconds away from going to overtime in Game 6, but Paul Pierce's shot was too late and Hawks moved on. The Hawks looked unbeatable vs the East in the regular season and showed no signs of slowing down. But something that is common in the playoffs is that teams will exploit your weaknesses over the course of a series like the Wizards did to the Hawks. The Wizards dominated the Hawks on the wings with Paul Pierce and Bradley Beal each having an impressive series. With a one-handed John Wall many presumed that the Hawks would be able to wrap this series up rather quickly but the Wizards fought as hard as they could and played literally to the last second.
The Cavaliers dispatched the Bulls rather easily in a Game 6 blowout. It was an extremely impressive showing by the Cavs who won by 21 on the Bulls home court with no Kevin Love, LeBron shooting 7/23, and Kyrie Irving playing 12 minutes while attempting only 2 shots. A major reason the Cavs were able to beat the Bulls in 6 was the play of their role players. Mid-season additions J.R Smith, Timofey Mozgov, and Iman Shumpert all stepped up in defeating the Bulls and credit has to be given to GM David Griffin for adding these pieces that added much needed depth to a shallow Cavaliers team. Even second year guard Matthew Dellavedova had a coming out party, with 19 huge points in Game 6. With a banged up Irving and no Kevin Love, the Hawks will focus their defense on containing LeBron.
The Hawks have DeMarre Carroll a long defender that they will use to slow down LeBron. I also think that we will see a lot of team defense from the Hawks, Paul Millsap and Al Horford are too slow to guard LeBron on the wings but they can give him trouble when he attacks the paint. The X-factor for the Hawks will be containing the three point shooting of the Cavaliers, something that Cleveland relies on heavily. If the Hawks can limit the three pointers from the Cavs and force LeBron to carry the bulk of their offense they can pull the upset and make it to the Finals. During the Wizards series, the Hawks went through stretches where they couldn't get anything going offensively and if Kyle Korver shoots around 28% from three again the Hawks won't have a chance against the Cavaliers. Jeff Teague has been inconsistent in the playoffs and he will taken out of the game trying to guard Irving. I don't think the Hawks have enough scorers to keep up with the high scoring Cavalier offense. I think that the Cavalier role players step up once again and LeBron heads to his 5th straight finals appearance. Cavs in 6
THE WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Golden State Warriors vs #2 Houston Rockets- On Saturday the 9th the Warriors lost handedly to the Grizzlies to go down 2-1 in their series. The day after the Clippers assaulted the Rockets, beating them by 33 at home to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. How things change in a matter of days. The Rockets are the #2 seed in the West but nobody expected them to pull off the magic act that occurred last week. The Clippers, up 19 points with 14 minutes left in Game 6, were outscored 40-15 in the 4th quarter thanks to role players Jason Terry, Corey Brewer, and Trevor Ariza. But the epic comeback would not have happened without the magnificent play of Josh Smith. Smith had 14 of his 19 points in the 4th and lead a historic comeback. The most amazing thing about the Rockets comeback is that MVP runner up James Harden didn't score a single point during the 4th quarter and was on the bench for most of the final period. The Clippers barely put up a fight in Game 7 and have to be kicking themselves for squandering such a golden opportunity to reach the franchises first conference finals.
The Warriors eventually picked up their play and won three straight games rather easily thanks to the MVP Stephen Curry. Once the three pointers started falling for the Warriors it was evident how over matched the Grizzlies were and Memphis just couldn't keep up with the high octane offense of the Warriors. This series should be extremely fast paced and high scoring. Both teams like to push the ball and take a lot of three pointers. Dwight Howard will need to have a big series for the Rockets to pull the upset. If he can score in the paint at will and get easy buckets, the rest of the offense will benefit. In addition Josh Smith will be key for the Rockets, if he can get it going offensively off of the bench that will take a lot of pressure off the starters for the Rockets and give them much needed points against a very deep Warriors team. Although both teams are prolific on offense, they are also very good defensive teams. It will be interesting to see which team can do a good job of slowing the other one down on offense and limiting fast break points.
The storyline that everyone will be talking about is MVP Stephen Curry vs runner up James Harden. We might see them matched up against each other at times and if we are lucky hopefully both stars go off for 30+ points in each game of the series. In addition an interesting thing to look at is which one of these players has the most triple doubles in the series, as both are extremely talented passers. The Warriors are extremely difficult to beat, but they are not unstoppable. The Grizzlies showed a few weaknesses in the Warriors as Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph beat them up in the post, which is why it is imperative for Dwight Howard to have a big series. For the Rockets to pull of the upset they will need a lot of things to go their way. James Harden will have to have an excellent series, Howard must be elite on both sides of the ball, and the role players will have to hit their three pointers. But after the miracle they pulled off against the Clippers you have to think that Rockets believe they can beat anyone. It will be an exciting series with a lot of high scoring games and three pointers which I think favors the Warriors. Golden State has more depth off of the bench and that will be key as they edge the Rockets to make it to the NBA Finals. Warriors in 7
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