TORONTO RAPTORS VERSUS MILWAUKEE BUCKS
The Raptors and Bucks faced each other four times this season with Milwaukee winning the season series 3 to 1. Toronto is coming off a thrilling seven game series with the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Milwaukee Bucks handled the Boston Celtics with ease in a five game series. This is the matchup a lot of people wanted to see. The MVP favorite, Giannis Antetokounmpo vs the man with maybe the most dominant postseason anyone has had since “His Airness Michael Jordan” used to grace people’s TVs. This is going to be a great series, but that’s obvious! Giannis vs Kawhi is a great matchup between two superstars with cases to be the best player in the world. who’s going to help the two superstars out? The supporting cast will be huge in this series. The Bucks are deep with Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Nikola Mirotic, Ersan Ilyasova, George Hill and Brook Lopez, and a possible return from Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon is possibly their second-best player this team, and they have shooters and are deep! The Bucks are a big team and play suffocating defense their length forces teams into bad shots and turnovers They were the #1 defense in the NBA this season and finished 4th in offense. The Raptors are also elite on both sides of the ball finishing 5th in both offensive rating and defensive rating respectively. Led by Kawhi Leonard, this Raptors team is not as deep as Milwaukee. Outside of Kawhi and Paschal Siakam who emerged this season but managed to struggle in the second round against the 76ers, the rest of the Raptors have struggled offensively. Point Guard Kyle Lowry was supposed to be the Robin to Kawhi’s Batman, but Kyle is known for his consistent playoff struggles. I think the Bucks have the advantage in every category offense, defense, coaching, talent, best player. I have the Bucks reaching the Finals for the first time since 1974.
Bucks win series 4-3
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS VS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Portland and Golden State went head-to-head four times this season with the series being tied 2-2; these two teams are no strangers having faced each other in the postseason for the 3rd time in four years. These two teams are dynamic offensively and can attack you in different ways. Led by two incredible backcourts, this series will be fun and will have a lot of points. The Warriors are the Warriors (we know this), but don’t sleep on these Blazers; they have some rough riders who will get physical with Golden State. We’ve seen in the past that this can bother the Warriors to some degree. With Kevin Durant out for who knows how long, the Blazers will have a punchers chance in this series. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have had incredible postseasons and are changing the narratives on their careers and allowing Damian to reach the superstar status only real NBA fans saw in him. CJ McCollum is the ultimate sidekick, and he is rising up the Shooting Guard rankings this offseason. Portland beat the Denver Nuggets in seven games, and in game 7 on the road with superstar Damian Lillard, struggling CJ scored 37 points on 17-29 shooting. This team has a solid bench, but their backcourt will have to be as explosive as ever to the down the Warriors. Golden State was written off by some media pundits after losing Kevin Durant when he went down in game 5 of the Conference semifinals against the Rockets. Instead, the Warriors reminded people of how good they were before Kevin Durant and that KD was more of a luxury than a necessity. Steph Curry got back to who he is in the 4th quarters of games five and six. During game six in Houston, Curry was scoreless in the first half, but exploded for 33 points in the second half. I think this series will be fun and may give Portland more national recognition which they deserve. I think Portland will put up more of a fight then expected but Golden State advances to their 5th straight Finals.
Warriors win series 4-2
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