NBA Conference Finals Preview: Will Golden State and Cleveland meet in Finals for fourth straight season?
FLVRsports writer: Drew Farmer | @DrewMFarmer
The more things change, the more they stay the same, at least in the case of the NBA Eastern Conference. The reigning conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, will take on the Boston Celtics for the second straight year in the Conference Finals. Despite NBA experts lamenting the Cavaliers’ poor roster and inefficiencies during the regular season, LeBron James has shown he is still the king of the NBA.
James and company easily dispatched of the Toronto Raptors although the Cavaliers finished nine games out of first place. Cleveland not finishing first in the Eastern Conference regular season is nothing new. Boston finished first in the East in 2016-17 before the Cavaliers eliminated the Celtics in the Conference Finals four games to one. Struggling through the regular season isn’t a problem for Cleveland when James and his teammates have the playoff experience to get the job done.
Minutes played, points per game and field goal attempts are just three of the categories James leads currently. Since the NBA Playoffs tipped off, the guard has turned up his play. James’ 34.3 points per game has been incredible, but the problem is the deficiencies of his teammates. Kevin Love is scoring 14.7 points per game, which is second to James. Without the four-time MVP’s scoring, the Cavaliers would have been eliminated in the first round by the Indiana Pacers.
Unlike Cleveland, the Celtics have found an unexpected big three that is doing it all on the court. Terry Rozier, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford have made many Celtics’ fans forget about the injured duo of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The missing pair were supposed to lead Boston to this point, yet both are missing. Boston was built around Irving until his season ending foot injury. In hindsight, building the team around the guard may have been a mistake.
The Celtics’ big three are sharing the points. Tatum averages 18.8, Rozier 18.2 and Horford 17 per game. The three will be key in stopping James as well. Both teams allow opponents 102 points per game, which means defense will be key in the Eastern Conference.
In the Western Conference Finals the Houston Rockets attempt to knock off the reigning NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. Houston recorded the best regular season record, and with James Harden and Chris Paul, the Rockets look like the real deal.
Golden State stuttered late in the season without Steph Curry on the court. Now, back from injury, the Warriors look as good as ever. Golden State and Houston are two of the top three teams in playoff scoring. The Warriors average 110.3 points a game while the Rockets are scoring 109.5. Defensively, the two teams are just as even. The Rockets allow just 100.1 points and the Warriors concede 101.6.
The Western Conference Finals look like it will be a series of slim margins. A few points may separate the teams in each game, rather than blow out wins like have been seen in previous rounds. The two teams met three times during the regular season with Houston winning twice.
The unfortunate part about the Western Conference Finals is it isn’t the NBA Championship series. The games played between Houston and Golden State will most likely outdo anything that is done in the playoff finals.
