We are at the very end of the NBA season. We only have the Eastern Conference Finals to finish before we head to NBA Finals and crown a new champion. Some of the games and series have been exciting and some have been bla, to say the least. Lets recap what we’ve observed and learned from the conference Semi Finals and Conference Finals series.
Indiana and New York
No one expected either of these teams to get to the Conference Finals but here they are, standing tall. They beat Boston (New York) and Cleveland (Indiana) to get here. The Knicks had a terrible record against the top teams in the East this season. Likewise, Indiana looked like a middle of the pack team the whole season. However, both teams turned it up a notch when the playoffs rolled around. New York took advantage of Boston’s reliance on three point shooting and came back from two 20-pt deficits in that series to win those games. That takes a lot resilience and fight. That doesn’t happen by luck, twice. Brunson, Towns & company went to work on the Celtics and sent them packing for the summer.
Indiana on the other hand made light work of Cleveland, beating them in 5 games. Their depth and versatitlity has been too much for both Milwaukee and Cleveland in these playoffs. They keep coming at you in waves. If it’s not Haliburton, Siakam and Nesmith putting in work, it’s McConnell, Toppin and Mathurin coming at you off the bench. And then there’s Turner and Nembhard. This team is deep. And they have used that depth to beat up on the Knicks in the Conference Finals series so far too. But after saying all of that, the Pacers really need to put the Knicks away in game 6 on Saturday. If not, they risk a game 7 on the road in front of a bananas New York crowd. And then we’ll see who the choke artist really is, Tyrese.
Boston and Cleveland
I said it before the playoffs. It would be a total disappointment if these teams don’t make it to the conference Finals. Take a peak from another posting on what I said about this;
Neither team advanced. They both had spetacular seasons that finished in complete duds! Boston looked to have the talent to go on a long Finals run. Unfortunately, their dependence on three-point shooting combined with Porzingis’s health problems and Jalen Brown’s knee issue, doomed them (even before Tatum went down with a torn achillles). Who knows what’s going to happen to this team in the offseason.
Cleveland just didn’t have the institutional knowledge on how to keep advancing in the playoffs. They weren’t battle tested enough and it came back to bite them. For the second post season in a row, it seems that Garland has failed to step up his game. I know he was hurt but he still was looking average out there. Maybe the Cavs are the team that panics and tries to make another impactful trade to get them over hump. Be careful what moves you make this summer Cleveland!
Minnesota, Denver & Golden State
Minnesota made it to the Western Conference Finals but lost to OKC in 5 games. After barely making it out the play-in tournament, they won two rounds (against the Lakers & Golden State) to get back to where they made it to last postseason. Again though, they ran up against a better team. Anthony Edwards has another level to get to. From my perspective, he needs to get better at changing speeds to draw more fouls. He also has to develop a mid post game. Both of these will help him to be more effective when he faces a defense like he did in OKC. Minnesota would have lost regardless, most likely. But Ant-man would have impacted the series a whole lot more if he could get Dort in foul trouble and start out closer to the basket (mid post game). But he’s 23 years old. There will be plenty of chances for him to get back here and advance.
The Denver Nuggets had a decent run. Their lack of depth really caught up to them in the conference semifinals against OKC. They did take OKC to 7 games, which was a success in itself. But a lack of a consistent 2nd punch has cost them the last two postseasons. I’m not sure when Murray is going to take another step forward. And I’m pretty sure his new head coach was referring to him when he spoke about coming into the season in better shape.
The Golden State Warriors just didn’t have enough after Steph Curry went down with his hamstring injury. Butler is not quite the No. 1 option any more that you need to take a team past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Kuminga stepped up his scoring but his stats don’t impact winning as much as you would want for someone with his talent. He will most likely be moved in the offseason for someone that fits better with their current team.
The Oklahoma City Thunder
There’s not much to say about them that hasn’t been said or that we don’t already know.
- They had the best record in the NBA in the regular season at 68-14
- They have the NBA MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- They led the league in Defensive Field Goal percentage (43.6 %) and Opponent FGs made per game (37.9)
- They ran over Memphis in the 1st round, beat the Nuggets in the 2nd round and manhandled Minnesota in the Conference Finals.
They look like they are going to win in all. It’s just a matter of how many games will it take them to do it. But we also expected Boston and Cleveland to win their second round series too but that didn’t pan out. Basically, OKC has to finish the deal. Win it while they can. The future is not given no matter how good it looks. Just ask the Celtics. Better yet, just ask the 2012 OKC Thunder team. Yep.
There’s only a handful of games left. Let’s enjoy them and crown another champion. No matter how bad the games have been at times, I’ve still enjoyed the ride. Until next time.