by MATT DEVITO Staff Writer
The big four battle it out in the NBA conference finals to decide who the two teams will be in the championship. The Grizzlies, Spurs, Heat, and Pacers have had long, hard fought seasons and finally hit the climax of the season.
The Miami Heat are leading the series 2-1 against the Indiana Pacers while the San Antonio Spurs swept their series 4-0 against the Memphis Grizzlies. They now are going to the finals against whichever team wins the Heat-Pacers series.
On May 27 in the Grizzlies-Spurs game, San Antonio finished off the series winning 93-86 with the player of the game, Tony Parker, who played a total of 40 minutes with 37 points, four rebounds, and six assists.
The odds seem to be in Miami’s favor in this series, and many people seem to think that it will be Miami vs. San Anotnio in the Championship game.
“The Heat have it easy this year. There is no way they can lose to any team this year. I mean, yeah the Spurs are really good, but nothing compared to Miami,” freshman Sam Vella said.
Other people disagree and believe that Miami will not go all the way for the second year in a row.
“The Heat are overrated. People make them seem as if they are so much better than they actually are,” said freshman Vinny Farina.
All four teams have made their way to the conference finals by pouring their hearts out in each game in the first two series.
Miami Heat swept the first round 4-0 against the Milwaukee Bucks where MVP of the year, Lebron James, scored a massive total of 95 points throughout the four games. In the conference semifinals, Miami won the series 4-1 against the Chicago Bulls.
Freshman Andrew Isola said, “The Heat are too stacked and it’s completely unfair. Three of their players are in the top 20 best NBA players right now. It makes it almost impossible for the other teams to win and makes basketball almost not fun to watch.”
Indiana Pacers won the first round 4-2 against the Atlanta Hawks. In the conference semifinals, they beat the New York Knicks 4-2 in heated games that averaged an 11 point difference by the end of each game. Last season, they lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, already pushing them further than they were last year.
The Memphis Grizzlies won in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers 4-2 and dominated Olklahoma City Thunder 4-1 – two teams that were predicted to go far beaten by the underdog team. Sadly, in the Conference Finals, they were swept 0-4 by the San Antonio Spurs.
When Memphis came up short, Pau Gasol (Memphis player Marc Gasol’s older brother) tweeted praise for a strong year from the Grizzlies: “Great season by the @memgrizz and @marcgasol. Tough way to end it but it doesn’t take away anything away from them.”
Last, but not least, the San Antonio Spurs powered their way through the playoffs with only two losses throughout the 14 post-season games they have played. They demolished the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 in the first round, beat the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the Conference Semifinals, and swept through the grizzlies 4-0 in the Conference Finals. They are now moving to the NBA Championship.
The NBA season is starting to come to a close but its going out with a bang this year. Who do you think is going to win it all?