The NBA Finals are set after two months of grinding action and only the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers remain standing.
I could go into a detailed breakdown of the Finals, but now might be a perfect time for some NBA reflection. I know we live in the right now era of Twitter but, c’mon, people: history is important.
Even recent HBA history.
Courtesy: bleacherreport.com
Boston Celtics – All I recall from the Celtic’s series sweep by the Cavs is Jae Crowder getting smacked in the face by J.R. Smith and Kelly Olynyk yanking Kevin Love’s arm out of its socket. Just like that the playoffs are made inferior because of suspension and injury. Why does Boston ruin everything? Boston sport’s teams are the worst and I’m sure everyone outside of New England agrees with me.
Toronto Raptors – Should we even discuss Toronto? I say “no” since they had home court advantage and were still swept. The Raptors barely showed up against the Wizards, so they are barely showing up in this article. No recap for you!
New Orleans Pelicans – Sure New Orleans got swept, but the team was actually a bit impressive in doing so. The Pelicans pushed the #1 seed, Golden State, hard in every single contest and even made the Warriors sweat big time in Games 1 and 3. Anthony Davis got some valuable playoff experience and should be an April/May fixture moving forward. The ‘Brow is dominant and it was about time most of the country got to bear witness. New coach Alvin Gentry should only continue the ‘Cans upward trend.
Brooklyn Nets – Dumped by the Hawks 4-2 in Brooklyn you really do have a future-less team! The Net’s roster is made up of aging veterans without any young prospects. Plus, they gave away a majority of their future draft picks to contend for a title the past few years. I use the word “contend” lightly. Sorry, Jay Z, but your Nets are way more “99 Problems” than “Brooklyn’s Finest”… Hova out!
Courtesy: www.jesuitroundup.org
Dallas Mavericks – The Rajon Rondo Experiment may have to be examined at a later date, so we can truly understand how spectacularly awful it was for the Dallas franchise. The next few years may take owner Mark Cuban’s best revival job yet. The future looks a bit bleak in Dallas–for the first time in the Cuban Era. A 4-1 series loss to Houston could be Dirk Nowitzki’s last hurrah in the playoffs.
Portland Trailblazers – I’m sure the Portland Trailblazers had bigger expectations than one playoff win. Portland has young talent and the team seemed to be an emerging force over the last few years, but injuries helped derail them in 2015. This offseason is all about re-signing their best player, LaMarcus Aldridge. The L.A. decision will determine so much about the future of Rip City.
Milwaukee Bucks – The young Bucks pushed Chicago to six games before being eliminated. Milwaukee has a youthful core–Michael Carter-Williams, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the returning Jabari Parker. Plus Jason Kidd keeps proving himself as an above-average coach–and that seemed unthinkable in his early days with Brooklyn. Remember when JKidd “accidently” spilled his Coke on the floor to receive an impromptu timeout? That was Bush League Kidd. The coach has come a long way. Milwaukee fans can actually scream “Fear the Deer!” and mean it before they approach the Mendoza line of inebriation.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
San Antonio Spurs – The last, but certainly not the least, team to suffer a 1st Round exit was the defending champions. The Spurs/Clippers series may have been (hyperbole alert!) the “best seven game series I’ve ever watched.” This series had everything: the possible last dance for the aging Spurs, Blake Griffin’s 4th quarter failures/redemption, Tim Duncan playing agelessly, Hack-a-Jordan drama, Pop vs. Doc, an Austin River’s explosion (whaaat?), Chris Paul’s brilliance, Patty Mill’s brilliance (whaaat?), CP3’s hammy and, finally, his incredible series-clinching shot with one second remaining. Plus Game 7 ended with the L.A. scorekeeper suffering from a case of “premature buzzeration.” This caused the Spurs Coach Greg Popovich and owner Peter Holt to go ballistic. That was awesome! What a freaking series! I’m convinced the Spurs will be back, and just as formidable as ever. I have no facts to back this up beside the Spur’s zombie-like history of never staying dead.
Washington Wizards – The Wiz advanced to the 2nd Round for the second straight year … and may have gotten past the Atlanta Hawks … if not for John Wall missing a few games with a wrist injury. With Wall and Bradley Beal the Wizards have one of the youngest and most dynamic backcourts in the league. This should put them in Eastern conference contention for the near future. However, all of that pales in comparison to … I CALLED GAME! This was the single best “drop the mic” moment in NBA playoff history. Paul Pierce, The Truth, banked in the game winning shot against the Hawks in Game 3 and delivered yet again in his post-game interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_B5_74Tvk. Watch and observe the truth, young bucks.
Courtesy: Yahoo! Sports
Chicago Bulls – The city of Chicago moves on from the grit and determination of the Tom Thibideau era after a 2nd Round playoff exit. Thibs seemed like a perfect fit for Chicago with his defensive style … and he was for the first few years. However, injuries always seemed to keep the Bulls, especially Derrick Rose, from reaching a peak. The defensive intensity finally started to slip this year and the offense never seemed cohesive in the Thibs era. Plus animosity and a lack of cohesion in the front office doomed the no-neck coach (Thibs is Gru from Despicable Me, right?) from the start of the season. The right coaching hire is the key for Chicago’s future because the talent (Rose, Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol, and Joakim Noah) is in place for a huge turn around.
Memphis Grizzlies – Memphis is a regular playoff contender straight outta 1990. They are led by a dominant center in Marc Gasol, and start a true power forward in Zach Randolph. Z-Bo is a beast in the post so unlike the uber-popular stretch fours of today. Mike Conley is an old-school point guard, who controls tempo and looks to get his teammates going before thinking about his own shot. The Grizzlies win with defense and post play. The 3-pointer is only a supplementary tool for them. Can this style win in the “pace and space” league the NBA has become? I would like to say, yes, but it has been a few years now. Memphis should continue to contend, but I have a hard time seeing them winning a title without something dynamic added to the roster.
Los Angeles Clippers – The other team from L.A. had just beaten the defending champion, Spurs, in a franchise- altering series in Round 1. Doc River’s team was up 3-1 in their 2nd Round series versus the Houston Rockets. The team nicknamed Lob City were up 19 points in the 4th Quarter at home in a series clinching Game 6. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin appeared to be the best players in the 2015 playoffs. Then the ghost of Donald Sterling reappeared at the worst possible time and all the hope in Clipperland crashed down in a flurry of missed opportunities. They simply reverted back to being the Clippers. Can any team overcome that limitation? Also, I realize that Sterling is not really dead, but he is a total evil spirit so close enough.
Courtesy: wiux.org
Atlanta Hawks – Nobody believed in the Hawks and, in the end, it looks like we were right. Cleveland easily swept Atlanta out of the Eastern Conference Finals. However, let’s dole out some props to a Hawks team that won a franchise record 60 games and made it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time as a franchise. That feat is unheard of for a team without one single rep on any All-NBA team. If the Hawks can convince any free agent superstar (as in Love, Aldridge, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook) to head down to the ATL in the next couple of years they’ll be legitimate contenders.
Houston Rockets – I don’t believe anybody saw the Rockets comeback against the Clippers happening once they were down 3-1 in the series. Sure, the Rockets have James Harden and Dwight Howard, but many experts doubted the Rockets had championship heart. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’m all in with this Rockets team moving forward. They eventually lost out 4-1 to an excellent Warrior team, but my respect only grew because Harden can be a downright scary man at times. I’m talking about his game, too, not that frizzy mess of a beard he continues not to trim. If they can add one more playmaker to take some of the burden off Harden and also re-sign Corey Brewer and Josh Smith (yeah Piston fans I said it!), they will be back for more.
That leaves the Cavaliers and Warriors, but their final history has yet to be written.
Either LeBron’s legacy will continue to grow or Steph Curry’s will begin.
Just remember it’s the history that got us here.
