The Road to the Finals

The second round of the NBA finals kicked off Sunday night. Three teams have already claimed game one victories.

The Houston Rockets being one of those teams, took a victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The James Haden vs Kawhi Leonard match-up may be just as intense as the Harden-Westbrook showdown fans witnessed in the first round. Harden was key to the Rockets’ advance in game five. With the support of his team, he dropped more than 34 points in 4 games against their first round opponents Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs have a similar story. Leonard dropped 43 points in game 4, but wouldn’t have been able have such a game without his offense. The Spurs seem to know how to slow Harden down, bringing Houston’s average from 112.8 to 98.1 points per game. If San Antonio can gain control of the pace, they have a chance of coming out on top.

In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers also took home a game 1 win against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors struggled to handle the Cavaliers last year, and lost three games against them this year. The Raptors also struggled to handle the Milwaukee Bucks, so this chances of them coming out on top are not very likely. If they couldn’t stop Giannis Antetokounmpo they won’t stop LeBron James.

The team beat the odds by making a comeback from a 3-1 loss against the Golden state Warriors. With team chemistry at an all-time high, both the teams and fans are hungry for another ring, but it won’t be easy with matchups against strong teams such as the Celtics and Raptors.

The Celtics and Wizards are evenly matched, but Isaiah Thomas pushed the Celtics out on top in Sunday’s game. Thomas scored 33 points, and Al Harford came close to a triple- double. Wizards were led by Bradley Beal with 27 points, but that was not enough to keep them ahead.

Fan favorite, The Golden State Warriors matchup against Utah Jazz . Even after having a worse record, the Warriors are predicted to take it all in the Western Conference. The competition is lacking after Kevin Durant’s big move. Golden State possesses to much talent to not take the Western conference again. The worriers struggle to find chemistry may be the very thing that keeps them from revenge against the Cavaliers.

Although a Warriors and Cavaliers final matchup is much anticipated, both teams have a long road ahead. Both teams have more than enough to win, but can they keep it together long enough to get to the finals.