Western Conference Finals Preview
The 2015 NBA Playoffs has been unpredictable to say the least. The Western Conference has been very competitive and at times too close to call. We are now down to two remaining teams in this conference, the first seeded Golden State Warriors and the second seeded Houston Rockets. The intriguing storyline in this series is the league MVP Stephen Curry will be going up against the runner-up James Harden. Both players had sensational seasons and that award could’ve gone either way. Let’s break down this series and what to expect.
The Golden State Warriors have been on a roll as of late. They dismantled the New Orleans Pelicans, had a bit of a scare against the Memphis Grizzlies but managed to gather themselves and defeat them. Now they’re matched up against the Houston Rockets, a tough and resilient team that fights for the full 48 minutes. The Warriors are well-coached and have depth. They have the best backcourt in the league with Curry and Thompson who will be the difference makers for them. Curry has really elevated his game all year, especially in the playoffs, and it will be interesting to see if he can consistently perform at a high level in his first conference finals. They will need everyone to step up and compete at a high level, especially their key bench players Livingston and Iguodala. Aside from Barbosa, no one on this team has ever played in a conference finals before so experience may be a factor in this series.
The Houston Rockets did something unprecedented; They became the ninth team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit. Their 19-point come back in game 6 definitely tipped the momentum in their favour and they followed it up by winning game seven. The Rockets should be feeling confident about themselves going into this series. They have often been overlooked but so far have proven many people wrong. They are led by James Harden and even though he lost to Curry in the MVP race, you can safely bet that he will be motivated to elevate his game to try and make a statement that he should’ve won the award. The difference makers for the Rockets will be their front court players of Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer. Aside from Harden, they have been playing extremely hard and are providing a lot of energy for this team. They will be essential for the Rockets if they hope to beat this Warriors team.
This will be a very interesting series to watch and one that I will be watching closely. After watching both teams throughout this playoffs, I predict the Rockets will win in seven. As crazy as that sounds, there is a method to my madness. They have faced more challenges in the playoffs and know how to respond. Although the Warriors struggled early on against the Grizzlies, they for the most part had not faced a real threat in the playoffs. Another factor to consider is experience. James Harden and Dwight Howard have both been to the NBA Finals with their former teams. Trevor Ariza and Jason Terry both won championships and were key contributors to their former teams championship success. The Rockets have players who have played at this level before and know how to win. Not to mention they have a more experienced coach who won championships during his playing career. As great as the Warriors are, they’re still a young and inexperienced team with an inexperienced coach. Although they have the MVP Stephen Curry, Harden has shown to be a great leader himself and his team stepped up when it mattered most. You learn a lot about a teams character during adversity and the Rockets showed theirs against the Clippers. This is the NBA and anything can happen, but you can definitely expect this to be a great series.