2014 NBA Conference Finals Preview

The time has arrived. The final four teams in the NBA are now left standing. Bragging rights are on the line. Winners of these series will face off for the NBA title. The conference finals are set to go, with plenty of highly entertaining basketball on for our viewing pleasure. When the season started back in October, most experts had this pegged as the Conference Finals. How these four teams got here is a bit more of an interesting story, as they took slightly different routes to get to where they are.

So without further delay, here is the full preview for both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals

We start things off with the Eastern Conference Finals, a rematch of last years finals as we have the top seed the Indiana Pacers taking on the 2nd seed and two time defending champions the Miami Heat. The Pacers got here by beating the Atlanta Hawks in a hard fought seven game series, followed by a six game series win over the Washington Wizards. This marks the 2nd year in a row the Pacers are in the East Finals, coming off last years loss to the Heat. Indiana is looking to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000. Indiana hasn't won a championship since they won the ABA Championship in 1972-73 season. As for the Miami Heat, they are the two time defending NBA Champions, having appeared in the NBA finals in each of the last three years. In fact, Miami is in the East finals for the 4th year in a row, the last time the Heat failed to make the Eastern Conference was back in the 2009-10 season. The Heat got this far in the playoffs by sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats in the opening round, then disposed of the Brooklyn Nets in five games. This marks the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, with the last meeting being in last years East Finals, which was won by the Heat. The teams played four times during the regular season, with each team winning twice. Ironically enough, the home team has won every game during the regular season series.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 18 3:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
May 20 8:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
May 24 8:30 pm Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
May 26 8:30 pm Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
May 28 8:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers* Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
May 30 8:30 pm Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat* American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
June 1 8:30 pm Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers* Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

This series actually seems a little easier to predict now than it would have a few months ago. Sure it's still a marquee matchup featuring the two best teams in the conference. But right now, its seems as if the two teams are going in opposite directions, at least in terms of confidence. When the playoffs started, both teams seemed to be lacking a little bit of confidence. Miami has found their swagger again, as they have lost just once, to this point, in the playoffs this year. The Heat have had very little trouble through the first two rounds of the playoffs, with Lebron James carrying the heavy workload for the Heat. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh have had impacts, but they aren't playing anywhere near the level Lebron is at the moment. James isn't doing it by himself, he is getting help from the role players on the team like Chris Anderson, Mario Chalmers and Ray Allen. Indiana, however, has struggled through the first two rounds. Sure they have walked away the victors in the first tow series, but they had to go at least six games in each of them. Roy Hibbert, the Pacers best player, has been inconsistent all playoffs long. He looked like he might have returned to form in game six against Washington, but its tough to tell if he is really back to form. With Hibbert sort of under performing to this point, Paul George and David West have had to step up. I can't exactly describe, in words at least, what's been going on with the Pacers, but you can just get this sense that something isn't quite right with the Pacers. They don't exactly look like the same team. With that taken into account, and the fact that the Heat have returned to form, this isn't going to end well for the Pacers.

The Pick:
Matthew Solomon: Heat in 5
Steve Carollo: Heat in 5
Danny Delaney: Heat in 4

In the Western Conference, we have a better matchup of the two as we see the top seed the San Antonio Spurs taking on the two seed the Oklahoma City Thunder.The San Antonio Spurs are the top team in the West, for the 3rd time in the last four years. In the past, it hasn't really worked out well for San Antonio, as they have yet to make the NBA finals as the top seed in the West. Last year the made it all the way to the finals, coming into the playoffs as the 2nd seed in the conference. Getting to the West Finals this year, the Spurs had to go seven games to beat Dallas in the opening round, then they took down Portland in five games. San Antonio is looking to try and capture their first NBA title since 2007. As for the Thunder, they come in as the 2nd seed in the conference, knocking off Memphis in seven games in the opening round, following it up with a six game series win over the Clippers. Oklahoma City has made the conference finals for the 3rd time in the last four seasons, and are looking to get back to the NBA finals for the 2nd time in the last three years. This marks the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, the last one coming in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, which the Thunder won in six games. The Spurs took the first two playoff meetings between the teams, this was back when the Thunder were still the Seattle SuperSonics. These teams met four times during the regular season, with the Thunder winning all four games.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 19 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
May 21 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
May 25 8:30 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 27 9:00 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 29 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs* AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
May 31 8:30 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder* Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 2 9:00 pm Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs* AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

This series is a little tougher to predict than the East finals. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have been carrying the heavy load for the Thunder in the playoffs. They've also been getting contributions from role players too, guys like Serge Ibaka, Steve Adams and Reggie Jackson, among others. The thing to note here is that the Thunder, for as good as they are, have had to go at least six games in the first tow rounds, against teams that could be possibly viewed as inferior. They have struggled a little against both the Clippers and Grizzlies. Now they have to face a better basketball team in the Spurs, a team which I still contend to be the most balanced basketball team in the entire league. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have been playing well in the playoffs. They've been getting great support from guys like Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw have all had an impact in the playoffs. That's the difference right now. The Thunder are looking to their big two and their role players, while the Spurs are using everything at their disposal. Oklahoma City will make it a good series, but depth and experience are going to win out.

The Pick:
Matthew Solomon: Spurs in 6
Steve Carollo: Spurs in 7
Danny Delaney: Spurs in 6

So there you have it. The stage is set, may the best teams win!