Finally, the inevitable conference finals matchups we've been pondering since last July have arrived. Obviously, these are not the circumstances under which it was believed that these four teams would be the final four as the Cavaliers underwent a role player rebuild this trade deadline and the Celtics continue to succeed despite every past version of a team with their levels of misfortune having an earlier demise. The Warriors are still the damn Warriors and nobody is getting in the way of their unavoidable dynasty's third championship in four years (or are they?). Lastly, the Houston Rockets are still fun and have two of the top ten point guards ever sharing the court for a majority of their games. That last tidbit along with the emergence of Clint Capela are the reasons why Houston has the greatest chance of challenging the NBA's defending champs.
Luckily, three out of these four teams have avoided any postseason injuries of note. After missing the first round and an otherwise uncompetitive series against the Spurs, Steph Curry seemed to have returned to form immediately by dropping 28 points in under 28 minutes versus the Pelicans during game one of the second round. Otherwise, Golden State is healthy, Houston is healthy, Cleveland is healthy and oh yeah... Boston. Well, the Celtics finally have Marcus Smart back at 100% (They need him) but, they are still down Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and maybe Shane Larkin (and who knew that Larkin could be an injury of note in the conference finals even three weeks ago). Otherwise, Jaylen Brown has had enough time to heal that he should be back at 100% for the Eastern Conference Finals and the Celtics minus their two best players are somehow the best version of today's Celtics.
I've never been as wrong about anything playoff basketball related as I have the 2018 Boston Celtics. They have redefined what TEAM basketball can achieve with their only obvious "glue player" Al Horford holding it all together and proving his All-Star worthiness that some still questioned. Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown are riding hot streaks from beyond the arc that are unprecedented up to this point in their short careers and have been able to get open shots thanks to the same style of "who cares who shoots it, as long as it's open" offense that the Warriors adapted once Steve Kerr came to the Bay Area. All that plus Jayson Tatum realizing his scoring potential as of late, despite only being a 20-year old rookie has the Celtics believing they can upset the Lebrons.
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USA TODAY Sports
Jayson Tatum is on the road to becoming a Kevin Durant-like scorer. |
With my schedule involving working during games, it's been difficult to watch every game and keep up with my regularly-programmed scheduling of watching shows like Atlanta and Legion, listening to all of the newest releases and all of this basketball. Somehow, I've been able to do it and I must say that the highlights of this trying NBA postseason have been watching the Celtics and pretending to tolerate their obnoxious fan base, the "Teddy Perkins" episode of Atlanta and some supremely awesome new records from Janelle Monae, Beach House and Leon Bridges. I hope this hot streak in entertainment keeps up and the Celtics actually provide a challenge to the Cavaliers but, I just don't know how that happens without an embarrassing mismatch taking place on the NBA's biggest stage (the Finals). Are we really about to watch Boston's team of nobodies play the Warriors' roster of four All-Stars? I really hope not. At least one team (Cleveland or Houston) needs to break that up but, I don't necessarily need to see a fourth battle between the Cavaliers and Warriors either (does anybody?). All in all, this feels like a lost postseason with Philly sputtering out in a five-game series against a team that has experienced no real lows over the past decade but as long as these four remain, I'm excited to see the results.
Key Matchups: Clint Capela vs. Draymond Green & Marcus Morris vs. Marcus Morris's overconfidence.
Conference Finals Picks
Cavaliers over Celtics in 4.
Warriors over Rockets in 5.
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