2017 NBA Playoffs: Conference Championships

Joe Rockelein, PaperClip Writer

Was it luck?

The Number 1 seed Boston Celtics are set to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers starting Tuesday, May 17th. The Celtics struggled in the first two rounds, but managed to defeat the Chicago Bulls, then the Washington Wizards. They were down two games early in the series to Chicago, but managed to win the next four after Rajon Rondo was injured. Against Washington, the Celtics had to use all of their home games to defeat the Wizards in the seven game series.

Both of these series could easily have gone against the Celtics. Rondo was dismantling their defense with well-timed passes and his overall ability at the point guard position. The Wizards had a chance to defeat Boston at TD Garden, but both John Wall and Bradley Beal missed their shots in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, which sent the game to overtime.

However, they’ve yet to face their toughest challenge, LeBron James and the Cavaliers. The Cavs are the heavy favorites to win the series with many expecting them to sweep the Celtics as they have done to the Toronto Raptors and the Indiana Pacers. LeBron has been unstoppable this postseason scoring 30+ points in seven straight games. The Cavs also took the regular season series 2-1, and beat out the Celtics in rebounding in all of the games. The Celtics will need to use everything they’ve got in order to stop such a dominant team.

Golden State going for Gold

In the West, the Golden State Warriors will face off against the San Antonio Spurs.These two teams were the strongest in the west and rightfully earned their 1 and 2 seed respectively. This series is expected to be tighter than the eastern conference finals as the teams are evenly matched. The Spurs took the season series 2-1 with both of their wins having a 20+ point differential. They are likely to rely on superstar Kawhi Leonard to lead them past the Warriors. Like the Cavs, the Warriors are the heavy favorites and look to meet Cleveland in the finals for the third straight year. However, unlike the Cavs the Warriors are expected to struggle against the Spurs who have used their defense to shut down the explosive Warrior offense led by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. In the end, the series may come down to who can make the defensive stops, which both have a proven ability in doing. Turnovers and rebounds will be important, and so will three point shooting since these games have the ability to come down to the wire.