With the Western Conference Finals between Golden State and San Antonio kicking off this Monday, the 15th of May, we are back with another round of series previews. At the time of writing, the series between Boston and Washington is still in progress with Game 7 to be played on Tuesday. Check back through the week for a comprehensive preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Golden State Warriors vs San Antonio Spurs
It’s the series that everyone has been looking forward to all year as the Golden State Warriors face off against San Antonio starting Monday at 5.30am (AEST). The Spurs knocked off the Warriors in two of their three regular season meetings throughout the year, although injury concerns to the Warriors in some of those games will skew the importance of them.
The Spurs boast the top ranked defence in the league spearheaded by lockdown small forward Kawhi Leonard while the Warriors have the best offence in the league and one of the best of all time with the likes of sharpshooters Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. It will be the first time that the best offence has faced the best defence in the playoffs since the Miami vs Pacers series back in 2012 however the Spurs defence might have some problems with the ankle injury Leonard suffered in Game 5 of the Rockets series still giving him some trouble.
The season ending injury to Tony Parker will hurt the Spurs offensively but arguably make them better on defence as the extra speed and tenacity of Patty Mills should be a far better matchup for Steph Curry than Parker would have. We will most likely see a lot of Jonathon Simmons as the utility wing man can guard multiple positions and will be vital when the Warriors opt for their small ball line-up. The importance of LaMarcus Aldridge will also be massive for the Spurs, as he will most likely get the job defending Draymond Green and his offence will be crucial if the Spurs are to score enough to beat the Warriors.
The Warriors are 8-0 through the playoffs so far and have barely looked like losing. Even without Kevin Durant for the majority of the 1st Round, they still rolled through both the Blazers and the Jazz. They are averaging a ridiculous 115 points per game through the playoffs so far, and it’s been mostly scoring by committee for the Warriors so far, with no one player dominating on any given night.
If the Spurs are to have any chance of winning this series, the offensive load cant be left to Kawhi Leonard, he has way to much to worry about on defence and at the best of times he’s not the most consistent scorer from night to night. They will need LaMarcus Aldrige to average upwards of 25 points per game in the series and Danny Green will need to have one of his better 3pt shooting stretches.
The good thing for the Spurs is they have ready made stoppers for two of the Warriors threats, Kawhi Leonard is arguably the most equipped player in the league to (attempt) shut down Kevin Durant and Danny Green should be able to stem the flow of Klay Thompson’s production. Jonothan Simmons has also shown ability to guard players much smaller than him so we could even see him on Steph Curry at times.
However, it has to be an absolute perfect storm of offence and defence for the Spurs. We know what the Warriors do from night to night, they score a lot of points and have a lot less margin for error with so many avenues to the basket. The Warriors are the masters of playing the game on their terms, and their fast paced, 3 heavy style won’t suit the Spurs, back the Warriors to win in 5 or 6 games here.
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Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers
The Celtics won an epic game seven on Tuesday against the Wizards to move onto the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Canadian power forward Kelly Olynyk had the game of his life in the decider, putting up 26 points on 10-14 shooting as the Celtics downed the Wizards 115-105.
They'll move on to play the Celveland Cavaliers and actually hold the home court advantage in the series after finishing 1st in the East. That won't trouble the Cavs too much though, who are 8-0 through their first two playoffs series against the Pacers and the Raptors. Teh Cavs are heavy favourites to win this series as well with LeBron James playing some of the most domainant basketball of his career so far.
One thing that does bode well for the Celtics is their ablility to defend the 3pt shot. In Cleveland's second round matchup, they shot 183 3pt shots compared to the Raptors 81, with great defensive wing players in Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder, the Celtics were 2nd only to Golden State in defending the 3pt shot last year, which should be a great help in taming Cleveland's predominant scoring option.
On the contrary, Boston's rebounding could be a massive issue for them, especially when Tristan Thompson is on the floor. Thompson is arguably the best offensive rebounder in the league today, and he should have a field day against Boston, who has been a bottom five rebounding team all season long. the Celtics' big men stocks Al Horford and Amir Johnson drop away radically so they can't afford to get in foul trouble here, a tough ask when having to defend the rim against a slashing LeBron James or Kyrie Irving.
The Celtics might want to just role the dice and play a small ball lineup, consisting of the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder out on the floor at the same time. If they can get away with this it might bode well for them but there's a chance it could play into Cleveland's hands who will be able to play LeBron James at centre against an undersized Al Horford and surround him with shooters.
Either way, Isaiah Thomas will most likely need to have a series for the ages for the Celtics to win a few games, let alone the series. We think he has one classic Isaiah game in him, and the Celtics might be able to pinch another one along the way given their home court advantage. Back the Cavs in 5 or 6.
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