And now for something completely different. NBA Western Conference Finals thoughts and prediction

You probably wouldn't know it by reading my blog, but I enjoy watching sports. NBA basketball and NFL/NCAA (American) football to be precise.

Living in Oregon for the past 19 years I became a fan of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. This is a franchise that has had its share of bad luck with potential hall of fame type talents Brandon Roy and Greg Oden succumbing to knee issues in their prime.

The current iteration built around star guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum has been good but not great, this no more evident than during last year's playoffs when Portland was swept out of the first round in four games by New Orleans. During that collapse Damian Lillard basically imploded when New Orleans used a trapping double team defense on him.

This year Portland has reached the Western Conference Finals after a thrilling seven game series with the Denver Nuggets (seriously, it was a thrilling series including a postseason record-tying QUADRUPLE OVERTIME game three!).

Next up - the Evil Empire

Tonight the Blazers will take on the Golden State Warriors in a series that feels a little bit like the rebel alliance taking on the death star. Yes, the same Warriors team that has won three out of the last four NBA titles.

The same team that added possibly the best player on the planet (Kevin Durant) to essentially the same core that set the all time regular season wins record.

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So the Blazers don't have a chance right?

At least according to NBA sports writers, they don't. Check this out! Not only did all 20 sportswriters polled for this ESPN article pick the Warriors, not a single one even thought the series would go seven games :(

This... is crazy to me. This is the same Warriors team that lost two games at home to the frickin' no-name Clippers in the first round, and more importantly, lost Kevin Durant to an injury during the last round for at least the first game of this series and probably more. Not a single sports writer can even see this going to seven games? Wow.

Bold prediction - Blazers win in SIX!

So let me put on my wizard's chapeau and pull out ye olde crystal ball. Through the mists of time I see... Blazers in six! The Blazers will win one game in Golden State and sweep in Portland to finish the series in six.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are every bit as good as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Blazers have a deeper bench and two legit big men who can play together (traditional low post bruiser Enes Kanter and modern stretch the floor big Zach Collins) while the Warriors have basically no legit big men rim protectors with Boogy Cousins and Durant both down with injury. I see the backcourt matchup as even and the frontcourt is a big advantage for the Blazers. This year when teams have tried to trap and double team Damian Lillard, he is not forcing the issue and imploding - he is making the right play and allow CJ McCollum to feast on single coverage. CJ has been a beast!

Depth is the other big story here in my opinion. The Warriors starters played an incredible minutes load in the last round vs. the Houston Rockets while the Blazers spread the minutes with Rodney Hood possibly the MVP of the win against Denver in the second round despite coming off the bench, and Evan Turner providing steady backup point guard play with the size to guard opposing forwards if necessary. Let's not forget Steph Curry's younger brother Seth Curry coming off the bench for the Blazers with a family chip on the shoulder (Seth actually shot a higher 3 point % than Steph this last season! Put that in your pipe and smoke it big bro).

What makes me feel best about the Blazers chances is actually that Damian Lillard struggled with his shot for the last few games of the Denver series and the Blazers still won. Damian is a streaky shooter. When he gets hot, he is sizzling hot. And he never stays cold for too long. I think it is a best case scenario that he struggled in the latter games of the Denver series after an absolutely scintillating first round against Oklahoma City mind you, including the best buzzer beating series ending shot in the history of the NBA! I have no doubt that Dame Dollar is going to come out firing, particularly since he always plays well in his home town of Oakland (he wears the number "0" in part as an "O" for "Oakland").

It's Lillard Time!

In closing, enjoy the epic series winning buzzer beater from the Oklahoma City series in round one. I could watch this on repeat all day :) Go Blazers!