Toronto Wins NBA Championship!

The Toronto Raptors are the NBA Champions after defeating the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals 4-2.  I watched a ton of NBA this year and it was so much fun and Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors were a big part of it.  They rolled the dice in the offseason to pick up Leonard and Danny Green for what may be a one year rental.  It worked and was worth it no matter what happens this offseason.  Brilliant move and it's hard not to be happy for this team.  Glad to see long time Raptor Kyle Lowry get to hoist the trophy.  If Toronto hadn't won the series who knows what this team would look like going forward.  Now, no matter what happens, he's a champion and his story is a happy one. It was also fun watching Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka, Danny Green and Marc Gasol play big parts in the series or in parts of the series.  

The Warriors were great in defeat.  If they aren't devastated by injuries this series is absolutely different but do they win?  I don't know.  What they showed in defeat is amazing.  It shows how great they are and the heart they have.  At times it was Stephen Curry and Draymond Green against all odds.  Props to the Warriors for another great season and showing what they are made of in these finals.  Quick side note - I listened to Draymond Green's interview after game 6 and he came across so different from what I think of him.  Great interview.  Smart dude.  Changed the way I look at him.

Now the offseason starts which will be wild.  Injuries to two of the top 5 free agents may or may not change the free agent landscape.  Me?  I give Durant and Thompson max contracts, injuries or not.  They are stars of this league and game changers.  I don't hesitate.  I'll be curious to see what teams do.  This year's free agent class is historically great and it should be wildy fun to watch.  The season may be over but the fun is just beginning.

NBA Finals Look - Golden State Warriors @ Toronto Raptors

Golden State Warriors vs Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals is a good match up to me.  I thought Milwaukee may be a little deeper but Toronto is an excellent defensive team and is as well on offense.  That said they'll play the juggernaut that is the Warriors.  Toronto does have have home court and we aren't sure where Kevin Durant is with his injury.  I love Kawhi Leonard and he's shown he is the beast we thought he was in this year's playoffs.  I'm not putting my money on Toronto yet but I really think they can give Golden State a good series which is all we can ask for.  And if a few breaks go there way maybe Canada sees their first NBA Championship.  I think the key will be the first few games when the Raptor will play at home and the Warriors may or may not have KD.  No matter how seasoned a team is, going down 2-0 in a best of seven is tough.  We just saw the Raptors recover winning four straight over Milwaukee but that isn't the norm.  Nor is Golden State.  They are so talented on offense and defense it is tough to see them losing.  They were down against Portland in game after game but just shook it off to come back in each game.  I'll take the Warriors in six games but would love to see Kawhi and Toronto take home the Championship.      

Trail Blazers Swept by Warriors - Offseason Starts Now

As a fan of the Portland TrailBlazers the Western Conference Finals were so hard to watch.  As much as Portland struggled I do know that Golden State is just a elite team.  They showed it over and over on both ends of the court.  But even with that knowledge how Portland lost, losing big leads in three of the four games, is a hard pill to swallow.  Watching Portland and their stars start strong but fade in the second half, or in the case of last night the 4^th quarter, you have to ask why.

No matter how poorly the series went the Trail Blazers did have a great year behind Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.  Getting better will be tough this offseason.  Enes Kanter, Seth Curry, Rodney Hood, Al-Farouq Aminu and Jake Layman (restricted) are all free agents and Portland will only have about $5.7M to spend which means they’ll be largely a non-factor in free agency.  They need scoring at forward but I doubt the money they’ll have available will be able to net them much of an upgrade.

So barring a trade of consequence it seems they’ll just need to get better internally.  This is possible.  When contrasting Golden State’s and Portland’s offense during the series the difference was jarring.  Golden State’s offense is constantly in motion and pushing the ball while Portland ended up with the ball in one guy’s hands trying to create while others did little.  And when the ball did get into the hands of players not named Lillard or McCollum they were tentative and indecisive.  Those things can be taught.  Many Warriors role players look really good – partly due to playing next to great players – but also because of the offense in my opinion.  Defense is also something that can definitely improve. 

We’ll see where the offseason goes but this really was a good year.  Portland was the #3 seed in the tough Western Conference and made the Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.  I’ve watched more of the Trail Blazers this post season than ever before and it has been fun.   I can’t wait to see what next year brings.  Maybe some of the young talent like Zach Collins, Anfernee Simmons or even Gary Trent can make a difference next season.  You just never know.      

Trail Blazers Beat Thunder 4 games to 1 in Round 1

The Portland Trail Blazers advance to round 2 of the Western Conference Playoffs thanks to an outstanding game five by DamianLillard including this spectacular last second three point shot from 37 feet.  You couldn’t ask for a better way to win the game and series.  His 50 points were key but this was about how well Portland as a whole played in this series against a very good Oklahoma City Thunder team.  Watching the games they played good team defense and had solid contributions all around.

As a team Portland shot 44% from the field and 40% from three while getting 33 and 24 points per game from Lillard and CJ McCollum.  Enes Kanter had a monster game one with 20 points and 18 rebounds while giving Portland 13 and 10 for the series. Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu played well rounding out the starting five.  But for me it was the team defense.  As a whole they sagged off Russell Westbrook letting him take outside shots which he didn’t hit consistently.  Paul George got his but you’re never going to “stop” great players like Westbrook and George.  You just hope to contain them which I think Portland did a great job of.

Still I have to think Lillard comes out of this series with a few more fans.  Those of us who are fans of the team already know how really good he is and he really shined this series.  He went toe-to-toe with Russell Westbrook and beat him while looking good doing it.  Hopefully Portland’s second round series will allow even more NBA fans to see how good this guy really is. 

Can’t wait to see who Portland’s round two opponent is and if you haven’t seen the ending to last night’s game – go watch it!

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers - Round 1 NBA Playoffs

The Portland Trail Blazers got the 3rd seed in the Western Conference Playoffs and as their prize play the Oklahoma City Thunder in their seven game first round match up.  The Thunder swept the series series after being swept during last year's season series.  This is a tough match up for the Trail Blazers.  They come in to the series without excellent center Jusuf Nurkic due to injury.  Late season pick up Enes Kanter, a former thunder, has played really well in Nurkic's absence and it should be fun to watch him against Thunder center Stephen Adams.  Still he isn't the player Nurkic is but is a more than capable replacement - good job grabbing him when they did.  The Thunder for their part will be without key defender Andre Robertson.  

The key to this series for me is defense and doing something to corral Thunder stars Paul George and Russell Westbrook.  You can't even pretend you'll stop either of these guys but you have to get them off their game.  I'm not sure how the Trail Blazers do it but the Thunder haven't been unstoppable this year.  Everyone will have to play good defense every possession to have any shot.  Portland has the offense as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum can light it up with the best of them but the role players will have to step up on both ends of the court.  I'm looking at you Al-Farouq Aminu.  This should be a great series.  Hopefully Portland will prevail and I look forward to good games as the Trail Blazers look to scare away Playoff disappointment ghosts of years past.