My NBA Conference Finals Picks

It really has been a while!

School was really hectic the last few weeks and now I've had about a week or so to decompress and get back into the swing of the NBA Playoffs. I must admit, I really thought the Pacers were going to fall to the Washington Professional Basketball Team. The Pacers limped past the Hawks and they got KILLED on the boards by Marcin Gortat and company in Game 5. Roy Hibbert goes from zero points and zero boards in game one against Washington to going off for 28 a few days later! I don't get. I'm not going to buy into all the rumors of stuff between Paul George and Hibbert's Wife unless one of them were to come out publicly, which isn't going to happen. Let's dig into the Conference finals!

In the East, we have what anyone with half a brain picked back in November. The Miami Heat against the Indiana Pacers. As bad as the Pacers have played through the second half of the regular season, as shoddy as they look against the Hawks and the Wizards, they do have home court advantage against the Heat. You could argue that was the main reason that the Pacers didn't beat the Heat in the conference finals last year. Last year was Paul George's coming out party on a national stage. However, the problem is as good as he could be, he would need to play even better then he played the first few months of the regular season to even have a chance to outplay LeBron. Roy Hibbert will have a game or two where he'll have a double-double with a few blocks and he'll probably have a game where he disappears or gets into foul trouble. If Hibbert stays out of foul trouble, if Paul George can outplay LeBron (unlikely) and if Lance Stevenson can outplay D-Wade (possible if Wade's knee acts up) that's the blueprint for the Pacers to win the series. As much as I would love to see the Pacers win this series. I think it's a little crazy to pick against the Heat. Despite that it would be their fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals. I can't find the courage to pick against LeBron until he loses again. I have the Heat in six.

In the West, we have the Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the San Antonio Spurs. Both of these teams have been really good throughout the regular season. Even though the Thunder had their series with Memphis gift wrapped for them when Z-Bo was suspended for game seven of their first round series. They had some troubles throughout the regular season with Westbrook going through knee trouble. Although, it does help to have the MVP of the league as well as the scoring champion on your side. The loss of Serge Ibaka isn't going to make it any easier to get past the Spurs. Kendrick Perkins is basically useless unless Duncan only sits on the block. (But why would Duncan wanna do that when he can just go 15-18 feet from the basket?) Thabo Sefolosha is the closest thing to kryptonite when it comes to guarding Tony Parker. If Kawhi Leonard can even almost stop Kevin Durant that really helps the Spurs. If Durant does get going though, no one on the Spurs is going to be able to stop him. Heck, no one in the league can really stop him. The one big disparity to me is between the coaches. I think Pop is a much better coach then Scott Brooks. If Brooks can't get the right guys on the floor around Durant and Westbrook that could easily kill the Thunder. Although, even if Brooks makes a mistake or two, the Thunder will still have the best player on the floor in KD. I think that makes the ultimate difference in this series. I have the Thunder in seven.

Thanks for reading!

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