Adrian K. Thompson Jr.
Sports Writer
It is that time of the year again, NBA Playoff time!
There have already been some great games and match-ups that were pound for pound great, like the Wizards vs. Celtics, The Spurs vs. Rockets, and even the Jazz vs. Clippers series.
On the flip side of that however, the playoffs have also had some snore fest series! The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have had cakewalks through the first and second round of the playoffs. The media and fans may not like it but they have to accept it because some of these match-ups will just be battles between unevenly matched teams who all want that coveted spot in the finals!
The San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State Warriors series has had a very interesting start and quickly took a wild turn for both the good and bad. Why? The Spurs star forward Kawhi Leonard suffered an ankle injury when the Warriors starting center Zaza Pachulia put his foot out while Leonard attempted a shot and ended up rolling his ankle.
It was a pretty crazy situation with many saying that Pachulia intentionally hurt Leonard. No decision has been made by the league on what, if any, punishment Pachulia may face for his dirty play.
Unfortunately, the loss of Leonard does not bode well for the Spurs who could definitely lose this series, but it is what it is.
Jemere Holt, a Spurs fan, believes losing Leonard will severely hurt the Spurs chances of competing in the series.
“It’s no coming back from this series now that we are down 2-0 without Kawhi. He was that driving force on both ends of the floor we needed,” said Holt.
Over in the Eastern Conference of the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Boston Celtics and this series is sure to be more interesting, however most fans don’t believe this series will go past 5 games.
When it comes to this particular series, you have to ask yourself this question; “Who’s going to stop LeBron James?” Most believe that the Celtics do not have anyone who can contain James. It also may be harder for the Celtics to slow down James than it will be for the Cavaliers to slow down the Celtics’ star player, Isaiah Thomas.
Gerome Hudson, a die-hard Celtics fan for 36 years believes the Celtics can take the series to possibly 7 games.
“We have a solid team this season. I’m sure we won’t win but it still has potential to be a good series! We can slow Cleveland down with some real competition,” said Hudson.
Many fans believe that the NBA Finals will consist of the Warriors and Cavaliers. The Trilogy, the ALL OR NOTHING finals this time! This finals match-up could truly go either way if the games played during the regular series are any indication with both teams winning a game a piece.
The Christmas Day game was epic!
If the two teams do indeed make it to the finals, what fans are about to witness is history being made. This will be the first time that two teams meet in the finals for the third consecutive year! This rivalry is to this decade what the Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry was in the 1980’s!
For a full NBA Playoff schedule, visit: http://stats.nba.com/schedule/#!/?rfr=nba
