GRIFFIN DOMBROSKE
Special to The Leader
The NBA Conference Playoffs have taken some of us by surprise this year, sporting some of the best games and memorable moments viewers have seen.
The first round went relatively according to plan with both the Celtics and the Raptors taking the win against the 76ers and the Nets respectively.
This was then followed up with a landslide victory of the Heat over the Pacers, with the Bucks beating the Magic coming up on its heels.
The second round games in the Eastern Conference were highlighted by the upset of both the number one and two seeds.
Jimmy Butler led the Miami Heat to a decisive victory against the Bucks and MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
For the East’s second upset, the Raptors took a hard fall against the Boston Celtics in a hard-fought battle.
In the finals so far, the Miami Heat lead over Boston 2-1. I think this series could be directly impacted by Tacko Fall’s defensive performance in the paint, as the Heat’s Goran Dragiċ recent games have implied he has been driving more recently than in the past.
On the West side, (metaphorically speaking of course) the Los Angeles Lakers cruised through the first round in 4-1 fashion against the eighth seed Portland Trail Blazers, who had to have a play in-game against the Memphis Grizzlies to get to that point.
Once into the second round, the Lebron-led Lakers squad lost the first game of the Conference semi-finals to the Houston Rockets before winning the next four in route to a conference finals berth.
The Rockets got to the second round of this year’s playoffs by defeating the rebuilding fifth seed Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games.
The Los Angeles Clippers, who had the second seed in the West, had more trouble than their city-sharing partners, needing to go six games in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks before ultimately falling to the Denver Nuggets in seven games.
The worst part of this was the fact that they held a 3-1 lead in the series before losing three straight games.
The Denver Nuggets are used to 3-1 comebacks, as that was their second in as many series so far.
In the first round of the playoffs, they trailed the sixth seed Utah Jazz 3-1 before coming back and forcing seven.
Utah guard Donovan Mitchell had a chance in Game Seven to send the Nuggets packing with a buzzer-beating, three-point attempt that rimmed out as time expired.
This leaves us with just the first seed Lakers and the third seed Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, with the winner moving on to the NBA Finals against one of the Eastern Conference teams left above.
The Lakers are already up in the seven-game series 2-0 thanks to the dramatic Game Two finish Sunday night, where Denver was leading until a last second, buzzer-beating three pointer by Anthony Davis.
How this year’s playoffs shape out will have a large part toward how people view Lebron James’ legacy, as he has a chance to win one of the most influential championships in the Lakers history. The passing of Kobe Bryant has impacted the franchise heavily, as well as his fourth overall.
My prediction is that the finals will feature the Celtics facing off against the Nuggets.
Looking at the Lakers’ track record, through not only the season but also the competition, many would believe that Los Angeles is on a roll and will likely not be stopped anytime soon.
However, the Nuggets have become the first team in NBA history to come back on a series twice in a single playoff run.
With that in mind, it may not be likely, but I would very much like to see them in the finals this year.
For the finals, I believe the Denver Nuggets are going to take the trophy home over the Celtics, in a 4-3 victory.
I think the Nuggets are going to play it safe and let the Celtics get ahead to lead them into a false sense of security.
Then they will come back in historic fashion, claiming the trophy after their fourth 3-1 series comeback of the playoffs.