Western Conference Finals: 15 Reasons To Be Excited

As hard as it is to believe, it has been over a full week since any team from the Western Conference has played in a real, sanctioned NBA Playoff game. The Suns closed out the Spurs two Sunday's ago, and the Lakers followed suit the next night in Utah, meaning there has been one LONG layoff since either Los Angeles or Phoenix has stepped on the court.

And despite all the NBA coverage over the last week, we still really haven't heard much about either of these teams lately. Especially after the Cavaliers got eliminated from the playoffs last Thursday, leading to "LeBron James' Future," becoming the lead story on every ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNNews, ABC, Fox News, BET, Telemundo and HGTV broadcast. I even think Oprah is weighing in on the subject later this afternoon.

With that, I know you all might be a little out of the loop, as we get set for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals tonight.

Which is why I'm here. And I come bearing a gift: 15 Reasons To Be Excited For the Western Conference Finals:



1. Because This Series Will Be Infinitely More Fun To Watch Than The Eastern Conference Finals:

Not to take anything away from Boston-Orlando, but come on, did you watch Game 1? It was 48 minutes of tight defense, missed jumpshots, and turnovers, with more clutching and grabbing than a teenage couple in the backseat of a car. Even when things looked like they could potentially get exciting via fast break or dunk, one team would kill it by committing a hard foul and ruining the flow of the game.

As Mark Jackson said about that series, "Styles make fights." And the styles of Orlando and Boston has led to an old-school, knock 'em down, drag 'em out slugfest in the East. But Phoenix-Los Angeles? Now we're talking.

The most intriguing thing about this series to me is this: In the last round I picked the Suns to beat the Spurs, simply because I didn't think San Antonio could keep up offensively. Did I think it'd be ...

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