OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: Dubs, Cavs favored in NBA Conference Finals
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 12 May 2018
Only four teams ? the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets in the West and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics in the East -- of the 18 that advanced to the post season playoffs remain in the Conference Finals to contend for the two berths that will dispute the NBA championship.
The Warriors-Rockets setto should be epic, the dream matchup everybody has been waiting for. The Cav-Celts matchup, on the other hand, looks familiar since this will be the second straight time the two will meet following Cleveland?s victory last season only to be beaten by Golden State for the title.
Are the Rockets, the top team in the regular season, legitimate contenders to dethrone the defending titlists? Can the undermanned Celtics keep their Cinderella run going against the mighty LeBron James?
A seven-man panel of experts made up of Reid Forgrave, Brad Botkin, James Herbert, Colin Ward-Henninger, Jack Maloney, Chris Barnewall and Kyle Boone answered these in making predictions as how the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference Finals will end.
And if their thinking holds true, coach Steve Kerr?s Dubs and coach Tyronn Lue?s Cavs are most-likely to hurdle the Rockets and the Celtics, respectively, to, for the fourth consecutive season, dispute anew all the marbles. The Warriors, they predicted, take home the Western Conference trophy to the Bay Area, 6-1, and the Cavs the Eastern Conference gonfalon to Ohio via the same count.
Forgrave, Ward-Henninger, and Maloney, in fact, believe Golden State will keep the West Division crown in six games, while Botkin, Herbert and Barnewall see the contest end in full seven games, also in favor of the Warriors.
Only Boone thinks the Rockets prevailing in six.
In the Eastern Conference race, Forgrave, Botkin, Herbert, Henninger and Boone all expressed belief that Cleveland will be it in six game with Barnewall saying the Cavs will get the plum in only five games.
Ward-Henninger was the lone dissenter choosing the Celtics to oust the Cavs in seven.
Forgrave believes that while the Warriors regular season campaign went up and down because of injuries to heir stalwarts, they look fine in the playoffs and if they feel this way in the finals, ?they're close to unbeatable.?
Stephen Curry looks healthy, Draymond Green is again dominating, and Kevin Durant can spell the difference, reasons why the Warriors, according to Botkin, will win.
Ward-Henninger, Malone and Barnewall noted Houston?s vast improvement this season but the Warriors, they chorused, are the better team, and they come in as healthy and energetic as they've been all season, ?so as much as I'd like the Rockets to give them a real challenge, I'm just not sure that's how it will play out.?
The addition of Chris Paul, Boone, for his part, said, made the Rockets the best in the NBA all season long. ?It's two stars, Paul and James Harden, are hitting their stride at a perfect time.?
While members of the CBS Sports the panel mentioned a variety of reasons for picking the Warriors over the Rockets, they pointed to only one big reason -- LeBron James -- as to why the Cavs would be the ?East?s Best.?
?With his (James) supporting cast finally deciding to show up. It'll be a rock fight, like Brad Stevens wants, but LeBron will ultimately impose his will,? Forgrave said as sounded he spoke for his peers.
Maloney believes the Celtics have what it takes to win the series, ?but they don't have LeBron James, which is often what things come down to in the Eastern Conference playoffs. As he's shown at various points in the first two rounds, there are certain times where there is just nothing you can do to slow him down.?
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