The Los Angeles Clippers brought a 3-2 series lead back home, and then proceeded to lose Games 6 and 7 to the Houston Rockets, and once again not make it to the Western Conference Finals.
The Clippers had a 19-point lead in Game 6, in Los Angeles, and appeared to be on their way to their first conference finals in their history, but it all fell apart in embarrassing fashion. The Rockets outscored the Clippers 51-20 from that point on, to pull away for a 119-107 victory.
All hope wasn’t lost for the Clippers however. They still had a Game 7, but it would be in Houston. The Clippers actually had a 3-1 series lead, and became the 9th team in NBA history to lose a series after winning 3 of the first 4 games.
The Clippers, which is common in their history, failed to come through when they needed to. They lost Game 7 113-100, and were sent home from the playoffs earlier than they expected…again.
The Rockets, who are the #2 seed in the west, will face the top seeded Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, that starts on Wednesday in Oakland. The Warriors struggled against the Memphis Grizzlies, falling behind 2 games to 1, but won the last 3 games of the series to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1976.
This is Golden State’s year. They will beat the Rockets in 5 games, and go on to the NBA Finals.
In the east, the top 2 seeds also will meet in the Conference Finals. The Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards in 6 games, to earn their first conference finals berth since 1971. The Wizards thought they forced overtime in Game 6, but Paul Pierce’s tying 3-pointer was ruled to have left his hand after time expired.
The Hawks will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers took down the Chicago Bulls in 6 games also, finishing off the Bulls with a 94-73 beatdown in Chicago.
Cleveland should eventually win this series, but it will probably go 6 or 7 games. The Hawks actually beat Cleveland 3 of the 4 games they played during the regular season, But this is the playoffs, and the Cavaliers have a guy named LeBron James on their team. He will be the difference, and make his 5th NBA Finals in a row. The last 4 were with the Miami Heat.
This year’s conference finalists aren’t your normal combatants. There are no San Antonio Spurs, Los Angles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls or even Detroit Pistons. If the Clippers would have made it, the 4 teams would have even been more unusual. Look for the Warriors to beat the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, as Steph Curry wins the MVP and the Finals MVP award within a month.
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