By: Farres Maruf and Sakeef Salman

Just four teams remain in the hunt for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. As we inch closer and closer to the NBA Finals, we take a look at both of the matchups in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals.

East: Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs Toronto Raptors (2)

Cavaliers

Recap

The Cavs remain unbeaten in the playoffs after easily sweeping the Hawks. It was largely due to the whole team being ridiculously hot from behind the 3 point line. The Cavs shot 50.7% on 3 pointers throughout the series, breaking the playoff record for most 3s in a game with 25 3s in game 2. Even Lebron who shot 30.9% from 3 in the regular season, shot 42% in the series. The Cavs also dominated the boards, averaging 6 more rebounds than the Hawks. The Hawks All-Star center “big” Al Horford only averaged 3.5 RPG. Dennis Schroder averaged 15 PPG on 20 MPG while Jeff Teague averaged only 11.5 PPG on 26 MPG. Horford and Teague are both free agents and performances like these, it shows why the Hawks are contemplating about moving on from them. The Cavs offense was firing on all cylinders as they’ve adopted this 3 point shooting style of play. Trade deadline acquisition, Channing Frye has allowed the Cavs to play a lineup of 4 shooters surrounding Lebron. It has opened up the paint for Lebron and Kyrie to get easy drives and if the defense collapses, kick it out for a 3. They are averaging 3 more assists per game than they had in the regular season, 22.7 to 25.8, because of this style.

For our X-factors, I chose Kent Bazemore and he struggled mightily. He averaged less than 9 PPG, while shooting 34% from the field and an abysmal 22% from 3. Josh chose Kevin Love who did great offensively and controlled the boards all series, averaging 13 RPG. Sakeefs pick, Mike Scott didn’t do much, averaging about 10 MPG. Kevin Love won the matchup between him and Millsap. Love averaged more points and rebounds, and did it more efficiently than Millsap. We all predicted the Cavs to win, but none of us called a sweep. Me and Sakeef were close, thinking the Hawks could steal one while Josh thought the Hawks defense could lead them to two wins.

-Farres

Top Performers

Lebron James: 50.7 FG%, 42.1 3P%, 24.3 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 7.8 APG

Kyrie Irving: 48.4 FG%, 66.7 3P%, 21.3 PPG 6.3 APG

JR Smith: 50 FG%, 50 3P%, 11 PPG

Raptors

Recap

This was probably the closest series of the playoffs so far, as three of the first four games went to OT. The Raptors continue to squeeze through the playoffs with their All-Star guards playing terribly. Dubbed “The Trash Bros” during this postseason, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were actually a lot better in this series than the Pacers series. Lowry went from 13.9 PPG on 31.6 FG% to 23.4 PPG on 40.1 FG% and DeMar DeRozan went from 17.9 PPG on 31.9 FG% to 22.1 PPG on 38.8 FG%. As soon as the Raptors realized Jonas Valanciunas is actually a beast and started to use him, he hurt his ankle and got ruled out for the series. Hassan Whiteside also got hurt in game 3 and was ruled out the series. However, the Raptors had Bitchsmack Biyombo to replace him while the Heat had Amar’e Stoudemire, who ended up playing a total of 31 minutes even though he started 2 games. So the Heat guards were also forced to do a majority of the work for the Heat. Dwyane Wade was somehow the best 3 point shooter in the series. He made 7 threes the wholes season but made 10 on 50% shooting in the series. Goran Dragic played well throughout the series too, averaging almost 19 PPG and 1 hit to the face per game.

Both players in our key matchups played well, but Lowry did just enough to get his team through to the next round. My X-Factor Jonas Valanciunas was doing great before he got hurt. He put up 18.3 PPG on on 65% shooting. Josh said that DeMar DeRozan needs to remember how to have points than FGs attempted for the Raptors to have a chance to win, and that he did . He scored 22.1 PPG on 21.7 FGA, just enough to get the Raps through. Sakeef’s boy, Justise Winslow, struggled early on, even getting the dreaded DNP-CD but ended up eventually starting. We all predicted the Heat to win, Josh even predicted Heat in 5. Just shows how bad the Raps were in the first series and how much they’ve improved.

-Farres

Top Performers

Kyle Lowry: 38.8 3P%, 23.4 PPG, 5.9 APG, 5.4 RPG, 2.6 SPG

Jonas Valanciunas: 64.9 FG%, 18.3 PPG, 12.7 RPG

Bismack Biyombo (Since starting): 65.2 FG%, 11 PPG, 12 RPG, 2.5 BPG

Key Matchups

Demarre Carroll vs Lebron James

Lebron still makes this team click, and if Carroll can slow him down, it’ll disrupt the whole team’s flow. The Cavs amazing 3 point shooting can’t be sustained for much longer and they could eventually revert back to relying on Lebron. With Valanciunas out, and DeRozan still struggling, Carroll stepping up would help this team substantially. He averaged 10.7 and shot a great 47.8% from 3, but has attempted only 3.3. If he could increase his volume of 3s and maintain his current percentage, it would help space the floor for the Raptors, giving DeRozan some driving lanes he could use to get going.

X-Factors

Farres: DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan has been shooting the ball awfully, but he’s at least been scoring as of late. However, he will be guarded by JR Smith who has actually been a very solid defender in the playoffs. He held Korver to only 7.5 PPG If DeRozan can continue this slow improvement, he can give the Raptors a second scorer that the Raptors will need.

Sakeef: Kevin Love

Kevin Love is still undefeated in his playoff career so far, and he’s been playing relatively well so far. There’s no official word on how long Jonas Valanciunas is out for, but you have to assume it’ll be at least a couple of games until he’s back. Until then, Love has to take advantage of the mismatches against guys like Carroll and Patterson especially when playing Center in small-ball lineups with Lebron at the 4, where he’s had a lot of success lately.

Predictions

Farres: Cavaliers 4-1

I could see this series being a sweep, but I just don’t think the Cavs can win 12 playoff games in a row. With Lowry and DeRozan getting better as the playoffs go on and the possibility of Jonas Valanciunas returning, all it takes is a bad shooting night by the Cavs for the Raptors to steal a game.

Sakeef: Cavaliers 4-1

I still have no faith in the Raptors, even though Lowry and DeRozan finally found their groove. The Cavs are well rested, playing 8 games in 32 days, and are firing on all cylinders while the Raptors have played two straight 7-game series. The Cavs will be rusty early on, and depending on how long it takes to knock that rust off and how the Raptors take advantage of that, the series will be over very fast.

West: Golden State Warriors (1) vs Oklahoma Thunder (3)

Warriors

Recap

The Warriors held off the Blazers in a (mostly) tightly contested series to advance in five games. The big question coming into the series was about how Golden State would fare without Curry. In his absence, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green picked up their games to help fill the void, averaging a combined 53.3 PPG in the series. Thompson was especially effective shooting threes, as he shot exactly 50% from three, as well as 49.5% from the field and 94.4% from the stripe. Green was an unstoppable force as well, as he was the main facilitator on offense (averaging 7.4 APG) and was able to knock down his own shots while scoring 22.2 PPG. As good as his offensive game was, he made his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 3.2 BPG, while being the anchor of that stout defense. The Blazers managed to take Game 3 on the back of a beastly 40-point game from Damian Lillard. Lillard and McCollum were both excellent this series as they have been all season. Both played well over 40 MPG the entire series and combined to score 53.2 PPG (just a hair under Klay and Draymond). Neither shot particularly well over the course of the series, mostly due to the perimeter defense of guys like Shaun Livingston and Thompson. Lillard shot a paltry 36.2% from the field (although he made over 40% of his threes) while McCollum, who is normally a 42% three-point shooter, shot just 32.1% from three. Curry’s return in Game 4 was essentially Portland’s death knell, as he scored 17 points in a ridiculous overtime period to break the Blazers spirit.

Farres was the only one who correctly predicted the Warriors to take the series in 5, while Josh gave the Blazers too much credit and I didn’t think Curry wouldn’t play in this series as we both predicted the Warriors to win in 6. For our X-Factors, CJ McCollum played very well and even upped his scoring average from the previous series against the Clippers. Klay Thompson was fantastic in this series, as he really picked up the scoring load with Curry out and played fantastic defense against McCollum. Mason Plumlee was terrible and I feel terrible for picking him as my X-Factor. He was abused by the Warriors big men and fell off in mostly every statistical category.

–Sakeef

Warriors Top Performers

Draymond Green – 44.9 FG%, 41.7 3P%, 17.7 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 7.0 APG, 2.3 BPG

Klay Thompson – 47.4 FG%, 47.5 3P%, 27.2 PPG

Stephen Curry – 48.6 FG%, 39 3P%, 100 FT%, 24.8 PPG, 6.5 APG

Thunder

Recap

The Thunder stunned the greatest Spurs team in franchise history in what was an insanely fun six-game series. Things looked bleak for OKC after Game 1, when the Spurs dismantled the Thunder in a 32 point win. The Thunder managed to come back and steal Game 2 in a controversial, clusterfuck of an ending with everyone questioning the rulebook. With the series tied at 2-2 the Thunder downed the Spurs again in San Antonio. So after a regular season where the Spurs lost just one game at home, the Thunder beat them twice in their own building. KD and Westbrook were their usual spectacular selves this series, but there were some big developments for the Thunder as well. Billy Donovan really held his own against Pop and made some great decisions down the stretch of some games. He also avoided falling into the familiar 4th quarter trap of having KD and Russ take turns with isos. He also started playing Steven Adams and Enes Kanter together, which turned out to be a brilliant move as the Spurs couldn’t buy a rebound with the pair on the floor. Both Adams and Kanter had a 19.1 TRB%, 2nd highest among both teams behind the Great Boban.

On the Spurs side of things, LaMarcus Aldridge started off the series looking like the greatest power forward of all time, as he made Serge Ibaka look like some scrub off of the street. He scored 38.5 PPG on a blistering 74.8FG% in those first two games. Over the last 4 games, he only managed to score 20.5 PPG and his shooting percentage plummeted to 40.2%. It’s ok LA, at least you got farther the Blazers. Besides Kawhi Leonard (who also had trouble shooting at times) and Aldridge, the rest of the Spurs really struggled to do anything on offense. This series was likely the last that we’ve seen of Tim Duncan. At 40 years old, he really didn’t have the legs to stay on the court against the Thunder and his minutes dropped significantly as a result.

For the most part, our X-Factors did have a big impact. Kanter had a really good series, as he was part of the reason why San Antonio struggled on the boards so much. Billy Donovan opened the eyes of some NBA fans with how well he coached this Thunder team to victory. He made all of the right adjustments and also countered well when Pop made his own adjustments. Aldridge started off the series looking like he would carry the offensive load for the Spurs but eventually his scoring tapered off. None of us had any faith in the Thunder winning the series. We all doubted Donovan changing things up and whether or not Westbrook and Durant would be able to get their teammates involved enough to crack the Spurs defense. Also, none of us could have seen the Spurs losing two games at home. Hats off to the Thunder for proving us wrong.

–Sakeef

Thunder Top Performers

Kevin Durant – 43.5 FG%, 27.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG

Russell Westbrook – 41.1 FG%, 25.5 PPG, 32.8 3P%, 6.8 RPG, 10.8 APG,

Steven Adams – 66.7 FG%, 9.9 RPG, 10.2 PPG

Key Matchups

“The Death Lineup” vs “King Kong Lineup”

By this point we all know about the Warriors small-ball lineup that they use to close out tight games, but the Thunder now have their own special lineup that is essentially the opposite of The Death Lineup. The King Kong lineup, which I stole from Reggie Miller, features both Steven Adams and Enes Kanter on the court at the same time alongside Westbrook, KD, and whoever else at SG (usually Waiters). The Thunder were already the best rebounding team in the league, but with this lineup they can grab ALL OF THE REBOUNDS. The main thing to watch is to see if the Thunder counter the Death Lineup with this big lineup at all. The speed on the perimeter might be too much for those two big men to handle, especially for Kanter who may be a sitting duck out there.

X-Factors

Farres: Serge Ibaka

Ibaka was getting BBQ chickened by Aldridge and averaged only 11 PPG and 4.5 RPG. The Thunder will need to get him the ball more because he was shooting the ball very efficiently, 50% from both the field and from 3. He will be better suited for this series as he won’t be matched up vs a big that is bigger than him. He will also be able to use his athleticism for when he gets switched onto a smaller player.

Sakeef: Klay Thompson

While Curry may have come back in spectacular fashion, he’s still nursing those knee and ankle injuries and may not be 100% for the rest of the playoffs, so Thompson is going to have to keep up his hot shooting for the Warriors to succeed. His defense has also been very good during the playoffs, but the Thunder don’t really have a SG besides maaaaaybe Waiters to challenge Klay defensively. If he doesn’t have to expend much energy on defense, expect some crazy shooting performances from him.

Predictions

Farres: Warriors 4-2

The Thunder were great vs the Spurs because of their athleticism and size. However, the Warriors are just as athletic as them and are used to being smaller than the other team. With Curry healthy, I think that the Warriors will take win the series, but the Thunder are too good to go down without a fight.

Sakeef: Warriors 4-2

Even though the Warriors swept the Thunder during the regular season, each game was tightly contested, with the Warriors usually pulling it out at the end due to some Thunder collapses. The Thunder don’t have the same speed advantage against the Warriors that they did against the Spurs, and will really have to execute well to have a shot in this series.

Unless otherwise mentioned, all statistics used to write this article were acquired from http://www.basketball-reference.com/.