The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers were the NBA’s standout teams during the regular season, and both carried their dominance into the playoffs with first-round sweeps over the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat, respectively.
Oklahoma City now awaits the winner of the nail-biting series between the Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers, a series currently tied 2-2 and is a candidate to go seven games. Cleveland will face the winner of the Indiana Pacers-Milwaukee Bucks series, which Indiana currently leads 3-1.
Given how dominant both teams were during the regular season, anything short of an NBA Finals appearance would be a disappointment in the eyes of many. The two teams combined for 132 regular-season wins, compared to only 32 losses.
For that to happen, the Thunder first must get past a dangerous, battle-tested Nuggets or Clippers team just to get to the Western Conference finals, while the Cavaliers will have to take down either the Pacers or Bucks, then likely will have to overcome the defending-champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
On the latest episode of “The Athletic NBA Daily,” Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni discussed whether the Thunder or the Cavaliers had the most impressive sweep and who the most important player for each team is going forward. They also discussed which of the series currently at 3-1 are over and whether the Nuggets or Clippers will advance.
Watch the full episode of “The Athletic NBA Daily” below or on the YouTube channel or via the “The Athletic NBA Daily” podcast feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
(Top photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)