How Good Are the NBA Conference Finals?

I was sitting at home watching the Cavs-Magic Game 2 and as Cleveland's lead slowly dwindled, I began to think about how it might be appropriate to blog about the possibility that Lebron may be great, but he still doesn't have the killer instinct down the stretch that Kobe has. But that all changed in the final second when Lebron stepped back and hit an absurd three to win the game. Call it luck (which it probably was), but he did it and it was amazing.

So my latest idea for a post went from continuing to develop the Lebron-Kobe debate, to instead talking about how great the first 2 games of both the Western Conference and Eastern Conference Finals have been. In case you haven't been tuning in, lets recap the Lakers-Nuggets series first. In game 1, the Lakers started off horribly and Denver opened up a big first half lead. However, the Lakers managed to stay in the game (although Denver still controlled almost all 4 quarters) and then in the final minutes of the game, Kobe Bryant stepped up, Denver missed their free throws and Trevor Ariza came up with a huge steal to help Los Angeles take game 1, 105-103. If you take game 1 and flip it around, you pretty much get game 2. In this one, L.A. jumped out early, looked to be in control for most of the game, but then saw Carmelo Anthony (btw, how impressive has he been in these playoffs?) and Chauncey Billups step up down the stretch. With 18 seconds to go, there was a controversial jump ball that allowed Denver to gain control, hit some free throws and then when the final shot went into Derek Fisher's hands instead of Kobe's, the game ended with Denver taking game 2, 106-103 to get a spilt at Staples.

If the Laker-Nuggets series has been entertaining for you, then watch out for the Cavs-Magic series because you might just have a heart attack. In game 1, the Cavs jumped out in dominating fashion and it looked like this may just be another sweep for the Cavs. But the Magic slowly came back and then down the stretch, Rashard Lewis hit a huge three followed by 2 poor shots from Cavs players not named Lebron and suddenly Orlando found themselves with a one game advantage over the team with the best home record in the NBA. Unlike the L.A.-Denver series, game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals started out very similar to game one, with Cleveland leading by 20+ points in the first half. But just as in game 1, the Cavs couldn't hold onto their lead as Orlando stormed back to go up. When Hedo Turkoglu hit a running jumper to put the Magic up by 2 with 1 second to play, it looked like this series and the magical run that many thought Cleveland was going to have would suddenly come to a hault. I mean, winning the first two games on the road all but assures you of moving onto the next round. But King James wouldn't have it as he received the inbounds pass and immediately managed to drain a fade away three to win the game and even the series.

The 4 games thus far are undoubtedly some of the most entertaining playoff games we have seen in a long time. Lets just hope the competition stays up because we could end up witnessing something legendary!


In case you want to see Lebron's game winner that everyone is and will be talking about...here it is.