THE 2014-2015 NBA Season has reached its penultimate conclusion with four teams left vying for the most coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Unlike last season’s conference finals, this year promises to be more exciting as the four remaining teams have missed this stage for numerous years.
The Eastern Conference will be featured by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who are coming off a spectacular season, doubling their win totals from last year.
Cleveland will have their work cut short for them as they battle the Atlanta Hawks. However it would be a different story if the Hawks continue to pound the ball inside as what they have shown in the regular season.
Atlanta topped the Eastern Conference after a lackluster season last year. Jeff Teague, Al Horford and Paul Millsap cracked the All-Star lineup this year.
Cleveland is clearly the favorite to win this series but the Hawks can give the Cavs a run for their money if they secure the boards and continue to rain it from the outside. LeBron James will score his points but what Atlanta needs to do is to contain the other players to have a fighting chance against the Cavaliers.
The Western Conference will be headlined by two unfamiliar squads--the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets.
Golden State did quick work of the New Orleans Pelicans, sweeping them in four games. However, they struggled a bit against the Grizzlies but somehow pulled off a 4-2 series win.
The Warriors will rely on MVP Stephen Curry to deliver the goods as they go head-to-head against the Rockets, who made their last NBA Finals 20 years ago.
Meanwhile the Houston Rockets had a tough road heading to the Conference Finals trailing the Clippers in their semifinal series after miraculously coming back from hell, thanks to James Harden.
Harden came second in the MVP voting just Stephen Curry. Harden had a phenomenal year filling the stat sheets night in and night out.
The Rockets will need much scoring from Harden against the well-oiled Golden State Warriors. Houston lost all three regular season meetings, making it the underdog of this series.
Despite all the odds, I still see Houston advancing to the finals because the Rockets are more experienced and they have Dwight Howard. Howard might not be the player he was before but he can certainly dominate the Warriors big.
It would be a tough road for all the squads left as they are eyeing for four victories to make it to the Finals. The Conference Finals series will surely hit fever pitch as the teams playing loved run their offense through loose balls but it will come down to execution in order to make it past this round and go straight to the grandest stage of all. (John Carlo Villaruel)