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Showing posts from May, 2015

The 2015 NBA Finals - Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

After many months of hard-fought battles against a wide variety of respected NBA franchises, the Golden State Warriors find themselves in serious contention for an NBA Title for the first time since 1975. With 67 regular season and 12 postseason victories already in the record books, the Warriors still need 4 more to be able to call themselves NBA Champions. Standing in the way of their first NBA crown in 40 years? LeBron James and the Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Cavaliers. The teams split their regular season series 1-1, each claiming a victory in front of their home crowd. It is important to mention that LeBron James was inactive during the Warriors' victory at Oracle Arena. However, the numbers would suggest that Golden State once again has the advantage in this match-up. Cleveland went 53-29 during the regular season, while Golden State finished with an astounding record of 67-15. Nevertheless, at this point in the competition, the regular season vict...

Warriors Win - Western Conference Finals Recap

For the first time since 1975, the Golden State Warriors are going to the NBA Finals. After seven months of battling through excruciating games, practices, and all other unpredictable challenges that come with playing in the NBA, the Bay Area's pride and joy is merely four victories away from the pinnacle of basketball. The Houston Rockets, on the other hand, walk away feeling dejected. Following one of the most frustrating games of his career, MVP runner-up James Harden insisted, "Just trying to play in a crowd, trying to do a little bit too much, and I turned the basketball over and gave them easy opportunities in transition." Golden State, however, will not complain about the continued ineffectiveness of James Harden.  Rather, they will move forward in celebration of obtaining their first Western Conference Championship in 14,612 days.  "Winning feels like relief most of the time," said Golden State's head coach, Steve Kerr.  "But to g...

(1) Warriors vs. (2) Rockets - Western Conference Finals Preview

After rallying from an uncomfortable 2-1 series deficit to dispatch of the Memphis Grizzlies in 6 games, the Golden State Warriors fixed their eyes on Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday afternoon. Much to the dismay of NBA fans across America, the Houston Rockets finished off their monumental comeback, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in an intense and emotional Game 7 battle. And while Houston's victory has not set up the "heated rivalry" that many basketball fans had anticipated, a series featuring two MVP-caliber players (Stephen Curry and James Harden) should prove quite intriguing. Momentum will not likely be much of a factor in this series, as both Houston and Golden State have won three consecutive contests. However, as the Warriors have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, Oracle Arena will undoubtedly be ready for the start of Game 1. Recent history also seems to be on Golden State's side, as the Warrio...

Warriors Win - Western Conference Semifinals Recap

For the first time since 1976, the Golden State Warriors are going to the Western Conference Finals. Simply, there is no better way to describe such a distinct accomplishment, nor to explain the historic run that Golden State has been on since the beginning of the 2014-2015 regular season. Perhaps, however, a similar notion could be obtained by casually looping the replay of Stephen Curry's 62-foot buzzer-beating floater swishing through the bottom of the net last evening. Those are the type of plays that we have come to expect from the NBA's Most Valuable Player. Unfortunately, this series wasn't all "fun and games" for the Warriors, as they were forced to overcome a great deal of adversity in achieving their ultimate goal. Thankfully, the series began on a positive note, which was certainly instrumental in Golden State's success. The hype preceding Game One was quickly dimmed when Memphis announced that Mike Conley would not suit up for the Gr...

(1) Warriors vs. (5) Grizzlies - Western Conference Semifinals Preview

After closing out the New Orleans Pelicans in a first-round sweep, the Golden State Warriors received a week to rest and prepare for their second-round match-up. Now that their "week off" is coming to a close, however, they are back to business and ready to take on their next challenge - the Memphis Grizzlies. While this series will not likely be more mentally taxing than their series against New Orleans, it will certainly not bring an easy victory to Golden State. Led by the All-Star caliber scoring tandem of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol in the paint, the Grizzlies will definitely give Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut a huge challenge on the inside. Andrew Bogut recognized the difficulties that the Grizzlies' low-post players are going to create, stating, "You know that whoever comes out of this series is probably going to be battered and bruised for the next one".  In the end, however, the "center" position will likely be the only advantage...