HOUSTON LAUNCH ROCKET AND REACH NBA CONFERENCE FINAL AS FINAL FOUR EMERGES

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May 18, 2015
Ayodele Odumade
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By Ayodele Odumade The Houston Rockets came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in game 7 to reach the Western Conference Final. The pivotal game was in game 6 in LA when they were down by 19 points going into the 4th quarter when most had written them

By Ayodele Odumade

The Houston Rockets came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in game 7 to reach the Western Conference Final. The pivotal game was in game 6 in LA when they were down by 19 points going into the 4^th quarter when most had written them off. Their coach Kevin McHale took their star player James Harden off in the fourth quarter and they managed to overturn the deficit to leave the Los Angeles crowd stunned.

In game 7 yesterday (May 17) in Houston, the Clippers still had a hangover of what could and should have been. Harden responded to being left out for the 4^th quarter of game six with 30 points as they won 113-100. Houston’s coach Kevin McHale becomes the first person to claw back a 3-1 deficit in the NBA playoffs both as a player and a coach. Doc Rivers became the first coach to blow a 3-1 lead in a playoff not once but twice as it happened to him in 2003 with the Orlando Magic team. This was a collapse of epic proportions by the Clippers and it will take some time for them to get over this loss.

The Rockets will play the number one seed the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Final to see who advances to the NBA Final. The Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 4-2 to reach the final. In the regular season the Golden State Warriors swept Houston in the series and will start as favourites. This is the Golden State Warriors first trip to the conference final in 39 years. This is the first time the top two MVPs (Stephen Curry and James Harden will face each other since 1981 when Julius Erving and Larry Bird faced off against each other.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will play the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference final after both of them took care of the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards respectively. Lebron James who is arguably the best player in the world right now is looking to reach his 5^th consecutive NBA final. The winners of both conference finals will play each other in a best of 7 series starting on June 6, 2015 to determine will be crowned NBA Champions.