The Golden State Warriors, and Houston Rockets, will play a seven game series for a trip to the NBA Finals, and a chance to play either the Celtics or Cavaliers.

The Rockets are coming off of two series that they won handily in five games a piece. These series were against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz.

The Warriors also played two five game series against the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orlean Pelicans. The Rockets will have home court advantage in this series after finishing the regular season with the best record in the entire NBA. This means that should the series go seven games, the Rockets will play the last game at home.

The Warriors were happy to get Stephen Curry back in game two, of the second round, against the Pelicans. Curry has had some very good games in this last round, including a 28 point performance in his return to the lineup.

The Rockets are still reveling in their acquisition of Chris Paul this offseason.

This last offseason was all about dethroning the Warriors. Teams like the Thunder acquired stars in order to compete with the Warriors super team, of course the Thunder’s “super team” was not very super as they were knocked out in round one by the Utah Jazz.

The Celtics acquired Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who has been injured for the playoffs, and the whole year, respectively. The Celtics still managed to make the Eastern Conference finals, and may be the favorites if not for their injuries.

It is very likely that this Western Conference Finals champion will be the NBA Finals champion, as the Cavs do not have the talent to defeat either the Warriors or Rockets, and the Celtics would would need their players to magically heal right now.

The Warriors are looking to win their second straight championship, and their third championship in four years. And the Rockets are looking to win their first since the mid 90s, when Hakeem Olajuwon was the best player in the league (remember that Jordan was retired).

After everything that has happened to the city of Houston this year, the people there deserve a championship. Will the Rockets win? Will the Warriors go back-to-back? We will have to wait, but let’s hope it’s worth is.

With the beginning of the NBA Playoffs, there are teams just happy to make the playoffs, contenders for the Larry O’Brien trophy, and some unfamiliar dark horses.

Looking specifically at the Eastern Conference, starting with the matchup of the #1 seed Toronto Raptors vs. the #8 Washington Wizards. With hopes of winning the conference and moving on the Finals with a top five offense and a top five defense the Raptors are well coached and have a solid bench. The Wizards, although an 8 seed, have quite a lot of talent with John Wall running the show, and Bradley Beal topping the scoring table most nights at the shooting guard position. The Wizards were lacking offensive chemistry, and consistent communication on defense: Toronto won, 4-2.

Next, the #2 seeded Boston Celtics were matched up with the #7 Milwaukee Bucks boasting the “Greek Freak,” MVP candidate, Giannis Antetokounmpo. With the young stars of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with the veteran Al Horford, the Celtics were able to consistently score on the Bucks. Defending, however, was a far more difficult task. Antetokounmpo was finding ways to the hoop and kicking out to his shooters, Kris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon. Excellent coaching and hard-nosed defense enabled the Celtics to overcome a valiant effort from the Bucks for a 4-3 series victory.

Next, there was the matchup of the #3 seeded Philadelphia 76ers vs. the #6 seeded Miami Heat. With a top 5 defense, the Miami Heat gave the 76ers some toruble in games 2, 4, and 5, otherwise, Philadelphia cruised through and ended the Heat’s Cinderella story with the addition of experienced star Dwyane Wade late in the season.

Finally, the #4 seeded Cavaliers played the #5 seeded Indiana Pacers. This was the most interesting, gripping, intriguing series of them all. While the Cavs have the best player on the planet, and arguably the best player of all-time, Lebron James, the rest of the team was struggling quite mightily. The defense was out of sorts, and the marksmen of the team had not been hitting the net consistently after the All-Star break.

The Pacers, however, had been on a roll and everything was falling into place at the perfect time. Consequently, they were giving the Cavs lots of problems with the size of Myles Turner inside, the three point shooting of CJ Myles, Victor Oladipo, and the expert facilitation from the lightning quick Darren Collison.

Lebron had to put the Cavs on his back in order to beat the Pacers, and that he did: averaging 34.4 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Lebron almost single-handedly, with the help of Kevin Love late in the series, advanced the Cavs in a grueling seven game series.