NBA Final 4 – Who saw This Coming?
Suddenly, only 4 teams and 3 series are left in the NBA season. At once the beginning of the season
seems like eons ago and like last week both at the same time. Remember when the Celtics were 11 th in
the East and out of the play in tournament? Remember when Phoenix seemed like a shoe in out West or
Dallas seemed like they were once again stuck on the treadmill? Perhaps Miami isn’t a big surprise –
they played well all season but were bitten from time to time by the injury bug – but Golden State is
only 2 seasons away from being the worst team in the league.
So we’ll have to accept that the Western Conference Finals will be Dallas vs Golden State and the
Eastern Conference Finals will be Miami vs Boston.
Western Conference.
While it’s only been a few years since the Warriors finished with the worst record in the NBA, it was due
to injuries to Clay Thompson who was out for 2 seasons, Steph Curry who missed nearly an entire
season through this time as well as Draymond Green out from time to time. With those players back
supplemented with the addition of a revitalized Andrew Wiggins and a few high draft picks to soak up
regular season minutes, Golden State has been a dark horse contender since the beginning of the
season but behind the vaunted Los Angeles teams and the searing Suns, not many outside their rabid
fan base expected them to be here.
Facing Denver in the first round, Golden State nearly cruised to a 4 game sweep against the 2 time MVP
Nicola Jokic. In the second round, it looked like the Warriors could be in trouble behind the Ja Morant
led Grizzlies but after Ja went down, it felt like it was just a matter of time and Golden State moved on
and they did with a 4-2 series win.
A more unlikely entrant, the Mavericks had their up and downs during the season before sending
Kristaps Porzingis to Washington for Spenser Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. The additions brought with
them a steady climb in the crowded Western Conference standings and by the time the playoffs began
they had earned home court advantage against the faltering Utah Jazz. Not an easy series, but the Mavs
dispatched the Jazz in 6 games. With the Suns waiting as their second round opponents, the victory
seemed like a destination and not a journey to the Conference Finals. But Luka and the Mavericks
wouldn’t say die and fought their way to a game 7 where they promptly extinguished the Suns by the
largest game seven victory in NBA history.
Who will win the right to represent the West in the NBA Finals this year? The easy money says Golden
State. They’ve been here before, they have the experience, the coaching the organization. But Dallas has
Luka and after dismantling the Suns, it should be difficult to bet against him. Personally, I’ll take the
experience but would prefer to see the Mavs make their first Finals appearance in a while.
Eastern Conference
At one time 11 th in the East, calls for the coaches head, locker room unrest it seemed that Boston was
headed for the lottery. But something changed, some switch clicked, a few small personnel changes
here and there and Boston is back in the Conference Finals for the 4 th time in the last 6 years. Choosing
to face Brooklyn in the first round while the Bucks let one slide, Boston finished the season in 2 nd spot in
the East. They faced the potential menace that was Brooklyn and slew that dragon in 4 straight games
and earned home court advantage against the Bucks. It paid off and Boston pounded Milwaukee in
game seven to take the series and advance to the Conference Finals.
Miami had a steadier season, put off here and there when some of their heavy hitters were out due to
injury. They faced the Hawks in the first round behind the mercurial Trae Young but he couldn’t find
magic this year and the Heat advanced in 5 games. Against all-stars Joel Embiid and James Harden, the
Heat demonstrated their prowess and dispatched the Sixers in 6 games to make their way back to the
conference finals.
Who will win the right to represent the East in the Finals this year? At the beginning of the playoffs, I
predicted that whoever won the Boston-Brooklyn series would win the East and I have to stick to that.
Tune back again for our take on the Finals!