The Conference Finals

The conference finals has been nothing but exciting. The top four teams in the league; what’s not to like about it? Golden State is up 2-0 against the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers are up 2-0 against the Atlanta Hawks. It’s been one sided in both series but we’ve witnessed very good basketball so far.

We saw a great game in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals but J.R. Smith stole the show. The former Sixth Man of the Year was always known as a good shooter and a tough shot maker but he decided to remind the world in Game 1. In the following game, LeBron James went to work early and it was so fun to watch. Without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving being ruled out before Game 2 with his sore knee, I just knew Atlanta would come out swinging and protect their home court; but boy was I wrong. The Hawks just simply look like the inferior team and they’re not as aggressive as they should be. The Cavaliers defense is stifling, not letting anything come easy and their offense comes in bunches. James was aware of the situation playing without their other two stars and going against an injured DeMarre Carroll he was very aggressive early and I loved it. One thing that stood out to me was LeBron’s maturity. Last night, it was strictly business and when there seemed to be an altercation between himself and Kent Bazemore; James received a little shove but he just kept it moving.

LeBron doesn’t have time for Kent Bazemore. Walked right to the FT line lol.

— Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) May 23, 2015

Ahh, I loved seeing that. The fact he didn’t respond hurt Bazemore even more but it showed me that LeBron wasn’t for the foolishness; he was there to get the job done, and that he did. The Hawks are in a lot of trouble. Down 0-2 going back to Cleveland, I’m not sure if I see them winning a game. They are struggling to score and Cleveland is clicking on all cylinders. I had the Hawks winning this series in 6 but they’ve been disappointing and are facing the possibility of a sweep. In the Warriors vs Rockets series, it has really been all about runs. In Game 1, Houston was up as much as 16 but the bench of Golden State helped fight back to overcome that deficit in the 2nd quarter. In the next game, Golden State got hot early and went up 17 points but behind great offense of the MVP runner-up in James Harden, they were able to stay right with the Warriors and make it a game but fell short in the last seconds of the game. Initially, I picked Golden State to win in 5 because I didn’t really give them a chance but I must say even though Houston is down 0-2, I’m really surprised of how they have battled in this series. Every run that Golden State was able to go on, Houston responded and that’s a sign of a good team. However Golden State has been the better team hands down and I’m not surprised. My reason for picking the Warriors was because I felt Houston’s defense was not good enough. There’s no reason for the best shooter in the world to be getting open three pointers and multiple open three pointers at that. The future hall-of-famer himself, gave the world a clever tweet about Stephen Curry during Game 2.

When the shots u take r the shots the defense wants u to take but r the shots ur comfortable taking #curryriddle

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 22, 2015

Steph Curry has been the game changer in this series. At times it seems like he cant miss and the rim has gotten bigger for him.  When it has mattered, he has made the play that they needed and he’s the main reason they’re up 2-0 in this series. If Houston wants any chance to comeback in this series, they must protect their home court especially in this next game. They have previously shown that they can come back in a series but I feel if they lose Game 3, we may have a sweep on our hands.

The NBA Lottery

Devastation and excitement. Two words that describe the lottery depending on which team you are a fan of. The Minnesota Timberwolves came out with the #1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft but it seemed people were uninterested in that. The talk of the week was more of the Los Angeles Lakers getting the #2 pick and the New York Knicks dropping down to the #4 pick. Its been bad luck for Knicks fans and when they finally get something to look forward to, this happens. New York possessed the second highest chance at 19.9% to receive the #1 pick and when it was announced they were at #4, you could feel the hearts drop all around the tri-state area. They hoped to land one of the top three in Okafor, Towns, and Russell which could’ve been a great asset to what they have already but it doesn’t seem like that’s not going to happen not unless one of the top three teams decide go another route and take someone else. I really feel Okafor and Towns will be picked #1 and #2 in no specific order and the 76ers will take the young stud in D’Angelo Russell. However, even though the Knicks didn’t get a top 3 pick, they still have a high position in the draft with the chance to select someone that can have a huge impact on their team.

The biggest winner in the lottery was obviously the Los Angeles Lakers. Mainly, because they have the #2 pick but even more because they did not lose their pick to the Sixers. If the Lakers had fell out of the top five, then Philadelphia would’ve gotten their pick due to the Steve Nash trade. I can’t wait to see where they go with this pick. There are so many options in their hands and I’m sure their phones will be ringing with incoming calls from other teams discussing trades but I would like to see them take one of the post players. I believe either Okafor or Towns would fit well in Los Angeles so either or would work. Even though Kobe Bryant is at the latter stages of his career, he can still do some work out there; so to have a young player compliment Bryant, that can play, could benefit the Lakers heavily.

Reporters Relax!

After Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Steph Curry’s adorable daughter, Riley, had social media buzzing as she sat with her father at the post game conference. People all around the world loved it but there were a few grouches that didn’t take it so well. Brian Windhorst had some words to say on why he didn’t agree with a kid being at the podium.

As a member of the media – even though I know it’s cute and great for social media – who wants to ask the players about the game in a business setting, it is counter productive. It takes away from being able to ask the questions.

Come on! REALLY!?!

In my opinion, I think its a bit much. Yes, I’m not a reporter asking questions so I might not exactly know what its like to be in their shoes but at the same time I watched the interview — Curry still answered all the questions. Yes, he might have been distracted a little, and yes Riley might have stole a little spotlight but so what. It would be a different story if Steph Curry couldn’t answer the questions or if Riley was way more distracting and elongated the press conference and they couldn’t do their jobs but this was the first time she was there and Steph still answered everything. So this so called, “ban” of kids at the podium is a bit much. TJ, one kid that I’ve seen in his early stages alongside his father, Jason Kidd at games and at the podium, made some great comments into why there’s nothing wrong with kids being at the podium.