The chances of Golden State playing the Rockets again this season have not been eliminated. Honestly, if McMahon were in charge of the National Basketball Association, not only would he be doing the play by play on this series, but he would let this series decide the MVP award, likely by dangling the trophy over the court like a Money In The Bank briefcase.
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After all that, we come to Westbrook, who became the first player since Oscar Robertson over 50 years ago to average a triple-double.
Key Matchup: Harden vs. Westbrook. He led his team to more wins than all but one other team in the league – and that team had four All-Stars while Leonard’s team had just him.
Now one of them will be gone by May. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredible to watch and it boosts ratings through the roof, but we need to be able to separate what we like to watch and talk about, from what’s truly effective as a team.
3. Postseason officiating This is an aspect of a series (and of the postseason, in general) that is always tough to calibrate, because crews change from game to game.
Golden State had won an National Basketball Association title the previous year, and they were hungry for another one. “At the end of the day, I’m not going to harp on what happened in the regular season through injuries, through bad losses, through good wins, through whatever the case may be”. And they will begin on Saturday.
The Clippers (3) and Grizzlies (7) both stayed the same. Houston plays the Thunder, and the Clippers battle Utah. Oklahoma City is going to miss shots, if it doesn’t the Rockets are really in trouble, so this is one aspect of the game that will be a factor no matter what. The East openers are Boston against Chicago, and No. 4 Washington against fifth-seeded Atlanta. Each have put together historic offensive seasons to carry their teams to unexpected finishes, Harden helping the Rockets rebound from a massively disappointing season previous year and Westbrook single-handedly allowing the Thunder to move past Kevin Durant’s departure last summer. While no one can argue Durant’s right as a free agent to sign with whomever he choose, it was Westbrook who choose to stay in Oklahoma City, which makes his historic season that much more special. McGrady finished fourth in the MVP voting as a member of the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic, but he led the league in scoring (32.1 points per game), player efficiency rating (30.3), usage rate (35.2 percent), BPM (9.7) and win shares per 48 minutes played (0.262). He might not lead the league in PER (Westbrook) or Win Shares (Harden), but he’s high up on just about every leaderboard.
In the first round of the playoffs last season the Rockets were facing one of the biggest competitors in the league, the Golden State Warriors. Nearly a League Pass rankings, if you will, but for the first-round playoff series. Luckily for us, they play in the first round. But that was a ready-to-win powerhouse with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
What gives James so much confidence as he seeks to secure his seventh straight trip to the NBA Finals? And as great as the Spurs are, they go about their business in a clinical fashion. But to face King James, the Raptors have to stop the Greek Freak, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo will be a handful.
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Kawhi Leonard, SF, San Antonio Spurs: Leonard epitomizes what the San Antonio Spurs organization is about, excellence in a quiet manner. Just go out and compete at a high level, and the game will tell you what to do.
