All Bullshit Aside, It's Conference Finals Time

I think we've finally eliminated all the shit teams from the Eastern Conference. At least, I sure hope so. Let's see, I nailed Cavs/Bulls exactly, but the Hawks beat my prediction by a game, as did the Warriors. And the Rockets won when I picked them to lose, which is fine with me, because it meant death to the Clippers.

Atlanta/Cleveland: I've been on the Hawks' bandwagon since roughly mid-December, and all throughout that time, I have maintained they can beat Cleveland. Even when the Cavs were smoking hot after acquiring Mozgov, Smith, and Shumpert. Even as the Hawks scuffled a bit after the All-Star Break. I'm not changing my mind now. I still think the Hawks' offense can pick apart Cleveland's D. If Kyrie is still hobbled I don't know who he guards. Teague will torch him, and he sure as hell won't be chasing Korver around screens for 35 minutes. I'd assume Lebron will guard DeMarre Carroll, so he can potentially help more, and I'm not sure Kyrie could really bother Carroll's shot anyway, with the 5 inch height difference and all.

Also, I feel Horford's a bad matchup for Mozgov. He's a legit shooter out to 20 feet, which is going to draw Mozgov away from the basket, which either opens up lanes for other Hawks to cut to the basket, or for Horford to beat him off the dribble.

I don't expect it to be easy. It's Lebron James, no Eastern Conference team has beaten him in the playoffs since 2010. But I believe the Hawks can do it. They don't have to win by a ton, the way the Spurs did last year. They just have to win 4 games by any margin of victory they can manage. A 1-point win counts as much as a 30-point win. Hawks in 7.

Golden State/Houston: So Golden State was able to handle Memphis' dual big man attack, and now they get Dwight Howard. Well, it shouldn't be any harder of a challenge down low, though the Rockets don't play nearly as many offensive zeroes as the Grizzlies.

Still, only one of these two teams was historically great all season, and that's Golden State. They were better on offense and defense than Houston. I think Klay Thompson's going to make Harden's life difficult, and I don't see the Warriors' defense letting the other guys - Terry, Prigioni, Josh Smith - go off against them the way the Clippers did. I don't have any real fancy insights or reasons for this pick. The Warriors have been better than Houston all year, and they haven't lost anybody critical to injury thus far to make me think that's changed. Warriors in 6.