The Eastern and Western Conference Finals are finally underway. The West has already played 1 game, with the Golden State Warriors' 25-point comeback win against the Spurs. They will play Game 2 tonight in Oakland on ESPN at 9 pm ET. The Boston Celtics will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 17th at the TD Garden to start Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Which series is more intriguing?
The final four teams in the 2017 NBA playoffs have the 4 best records in all of basketball, but which series has more potential to be competitive? The Warriors-Spurs series could be an epic series because of the way Game 1 went down, but after Kawhi Leonard re-injured his ankle the tide changed.
The Warriors were able to capitalize and take the first game.
The injury to Leonard may jeopardize the Spurs' season and chance to make the series interesting. Leonard is listed as “Doubtful” for Game 2 and will probably not play, which will make it tough for Spurs to handle the talent of the Warriors. The series will go back to San Antonio for games 3 and 4, but it may be too late by then.
The Boston-Cleveland series, on the other hand, might not be as exciting. On paper these teams are nowhere near each other, but Boston has shown that they are resilient, taking Game 7 from Washington. The match-up consists of the two best teams in the East in terms of record, but most people will agree that the favorites to come out on top are the Cavaliers.
Boston has one problem and that problem is LeBron James.
Anything can happen in the playoffs
Most agree that the Warriors and Cavaliers have an easy path to the finals in different ways. The Spurs and Celtics are overwhelming underdogs in both match-ups. If there is anything that NBA fans have learned over the last couple of years, though, it's that anything can happen.
The Celtics could win the series and so could the Spurs.
Cleveland being down 3-1 and coming back to win it all last year is proof that nothing is ever set in stone when it comes to NBA basketball. Fans will just have to tune in to see how events unfold.