Eastern Conference:
Without a doubt and for the third year in row, the Miami Heat are going to advance to the NBA Finals. Led by 3 time MVP Lebron James and 2 time champion Dwayne Wade, this team right now is on a 27 win streak and I don’t seem them slowing down at all. The New York Knicks right now are in second place and they are 12.5 games behind the leading Heat. The biggest competition though is going to be against the Boston Celtics. I am a true Celtics fan, but injuries and age are the factors that are limiting the Celtics to beat the Heat. The Pacers are another contender, but with experience and true talent, the Heat would beat them without a doubt.
Western Conference:
This year and for another year in a row, the Oklahoma City Thunder will advance to the finals. Kevin Durant is the 3 time scoring champ and Russell Westbrook is just “un-guardable” at the point. Off the bench they have Kevin Martin who would give them a lot of scoring and Nick Collison with some big man presences. Serge Ibaka has grown to big a premier big man in the league with shot blocking and now, scoring. The biggest contender to steal the spotlight from the Thunder are the San Antonio Spurs. Tony Paker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobli have been a unit since the age of the dinosaurs and know what it takes to win. Just like the Celtics, their flaws are age and injury prone. In the 3rd seeds (as of now) the Los Angeles Clippers are “not built” for playoffs, they are a highlight reel team, “Lob City” as they call themselves, besides Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford (not Blake Griffin) this team will no score and make plays down the stretch.
NBA Finals:
This match-up of the Heat against the Thunder in NBA Finals is going to be the predicted match-up for years to come. Kevin Durant against Lebron James is what all the sports talk shows are going to be talking about, “the 3 time scoring champ against 3 time MVP”. As always this is a very interesting match-up. Besides Lebron and Durant, you will have Chris Bosh against Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook (maybe) on Dwayne Wade. When it comes to the NBA Finals, people always seem to think that Lebron will not perform in the cultch, that is simply not true. When he wants to score…he scores, when he wants to pass…he will pass. He can do anything he wants on the court. Kevin Durant is developing his playmaking skills, but they are nowhere near Lebron’s level. Durant will do what he is best at doing, which is scoring. He will put up on average in this series somewhere near 30-37 point range. Durant just shoots and shoots and shoots without anyone stopping him, even James. But with the experience and the star power, I will have to give this series of seven to the Miami Heat, they will defeat the Thunder 4-2.
