NBA Finals 2015: Schedule and Pre-Conference Finals Predictions
We've officially inched one step closer to the 2015 NBA Finals as the second round of the playoffs wrapped up Sunday afternoon.
Four teams are left in the postseason, with the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets of the Western Conference and the East's Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks vying for the two spots in the 2015 NBA Finals.
The championship series gets underway on Thursday, June 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
Here's a full list of dates and times for the 2015 NBA Finals, via SportsMediaWatch.com. All games will be featured on ABC.
2015 NBA Finals Schedule
| Game 1 | Thursday, June 4 | 9:00 PM (ET) |
| Game 2 | Sunday, June 7 | 8:00 PM (ET) |
| Game 3 | Tuesday, June 9 | 9:00 PM (ET) |
| Game 4 | Thursday, June 11 | 9:00 PM (ET) |
| Game 5* | Sunday, June 14 | 8:00 PM (ET) |
| Game 6* | Tuesday, June 16 | 9:00 PM (ET) |
| Game 7* | Friday, June 19 | 9:00 PM (ET) |
*If necessary
Check out the conference finals schedule here.
Hawks, Cavs Aiming To Represent the East
The top-seeded Hawks battled through a pair of six-game series against the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. The last time the Hawks played in a championship series was back in 1970, when the team faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Division Finals.
"ELIAS: Hawks win multiple series in single postseason for 1st time since 1958 http://t.co/g8UTqePWIL
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 16, 2015"
Atlanta won three of its final four games against the Cavaliers in the regular season, scoring 106 points or more in each of those contests. It's important to note two of the Hawks' victories came before Cleveland began to find its stride after acquiring J.R. Smith, Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert.
Coming off a first-round series win over the Boston Celtics and a second-round defeat of the Chicago Bulls, the Cavs are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2009, which, of course, was LeBron James' penultimate season with the team before heading to Miami in 2010.
The Cavs wrapped up their series with the Bulls in six games, which included a buzzer-beater from James to take Game 4. Cleveland remains without Kevin Love and is relying on Kyrie Irving, who is limited by an ankle injury.
James, making his fifth consecutive appearance in the conference finals, matches Chauncey Billups as the last player to accomplish such a feat, per ESPN Stats & Info. Head coach David Blatt is the second rookie coach to reach the conference finals in the last five years, joining the company of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
Despite injuries to players around him, James led Cleveland over Chicago to return to the conference finals. In three games against the Hawks this season, James has averaged 23.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Without a healthy Irving and Love, James will need to build on those stats to take down the NBA's fifth-ranked defense.
Prediction: The Hawks needed six games to get past both the Nets and the Wizards. James and Co. just defeated the Bulls, who, like the Hawks, are based more on the sum of their parts rather than one superstar. Though Atlanta is picking up steam at the right time, it's hard to bet against James at this time of the year. Cavs advance to the Finals.
Warriors, Rockets to Clash in the West
Houston was forced to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference semis to punch its ticket to the conference finals. The Rockets are the ninth team in NBA history to accomplish that feat. Keying the comeback was the Rockets' shocking Game 6 victory in which they erased a 21-point deficit to force the decisive seventh game on Sunday.
The Rockets are returning to the conference finals for the first time since 1997. The team's last NBA championship came two decades ago in 1995.
"Most Recent NBA Championship Remaining Postseason Teams Rockets 1995 Warriors 1975 Hawks 1958 Cavaliers Never
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 17, 2015"
Without question, the Rockets' playoff surge has been spearheaded by "The Bearded One," shooting guard James Harden. Conversely, the league's MVP runner-up now gets a chance to meet the league MVP, Stephen Curry, with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
The meeting between Curry and Harden marks the 22nd time in league history that the top two vote-getters in the MVP race will face off. Fourteen times, the MVP has won, according to ESPN Stats & Info:
"22nd time in NBA history that top 2 players in MVP vote face off in playoffs ( @stephencurry30 vs @jharden13 ) MVP is 14-7 in those series.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 17, 2015"
In the past 10 showdowns in which Curry and Harden have faced off against one another, they've scored 20 or more points nine times. Golden State has won the last five of those meetings.
Curry's offensive surge was the difference in the Warriors' series takedown of the Memphis Grizzlies. He averaged 21.3 points per game through the first three games, resulting in a 2-1 series lead for the Grizzlies. However, Curry upped that average to 27.7 points over the final three games—all Golden State wins—to advance.
Curry's next challenge comes in the form of a Houston defense that helped slow down L.A.'s Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, forcing a handful of turnovers and coming up with big-time defensive stops to turn the series around.
Prediction: The Rockets proved their first-round defeat of the Dallas Mavericks was no fluke by topping the Clippers in comeback fashion. Golden State breezed past the New Orleans Pelicans before Curry's offensive resurgence lifted the Warriors over the Grizzlies. The Rockets should prove be a formidable foe, but give the NBA's MVP the edge as Golden State wins a long, entertaining series.
