My number three match up is most people number one. It is James Harden and the third seeded Houston Rockets vs. Russell Westbrook and the sixth seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. What is the most intriguing about this match up is not the team match up, but it is the fact that it is a first round match up features the two leading candidates for the MVP that could make this match up so legendary. This should be fun to watch if nothing else.
My second best match up to watch are the second seeded Cleveland Pacers vs the seventh seeded Indiana Pacers. Why is this one so interesting. It is not because the match up is so interesting. In fact on paper the Pacers should not even stand a chance. They should get run over. But is the chance that this could be one of the biggest melt downs of all time. Cleveland has had great offensive efficiency and going into the last week and a half of the season the owned the best record in the East. It looked like they would cruse into the Eastern conference finals and most likely represent the East in the NBA finals. Then they lost there last four games of the season. They have dropped to the second seed and they have a tied record with the third seed. The way they played at the end of the season looked like it could be the beginning of a colossal meltdown. Will the Cavs melt down continue or will they rally and reinvigorate there season. Who knows. Either was it will be interesting. In the last couple of weeks of the season the pacers have looked better to tell you the truth.
The final series that I think could be intriguing and my pick as the number one series to watch is the top seeded Golden State warriors and the eighth seeded Portland Trail Blazers. Rarely is an one vs eighth seed is so interesting. Well this is no typical one eight match up. First like the last series I talked about on paper this looks like an open and shut case. The Warriors lead the Blazers in almost every category an they swept the Blazers by a nearly 20 point spread. So how can Blazers stand a chance, you might be wondering? Well first of all that 20 points a game is misleading. The Warriors won one game by 45 and that skewed that stat. The other games were all fairly close and the two in at Portland were decided by 5 points combined. The Blazers are a good second half of the season team. Since the March first the Blazers and the Warriors have the two best records. So they have been the two hottest teams in the league for a month and a half. An important note. One of the reasons that the Blazers have done so well is because they acquired there new starting center Jusuf Nurkic. He has been injured and has missed the last few games. He will be a game time decisions. Even if he plays in game one his timing and conditioning will probably be off. But he could be turning up his game as the series enters Portland.
I will also admit that being an avid Portland fan makes me more excited for that series.
Are you exited for this years playoffs? Which first round match up has your interest peaked? Let me know.