NBA: 6 biggest storylines heading into the Conference Finals

Taking a look at the six biggest headlines heading into the NBA’s Conference Finals

After a couple of really thrilling Conference Semifinals matchups, there are only four teams left in the NBA’s postseason. With that, there is just one more step before the ultimate destination for almost every team, the NBA Finals.

As always, there are more than a few interesting stories heading into this week, and we’re going to take a look at just a couple.

Western Conference: Which team makes history?

The Golden State Warriors somehow overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, and have made their fifth straight Western Conference Finals, after toppling the Houston Rockets 4-2. The pressure isn’t about to fade for Golden State though, as they sit on the verge of doing something that just one other team in NBA history has done.

If the Warriors can beat the Portland Trail Blazers, they will have made the NBA Finals five straight times, a streak bested by just one franchise, the Boston Celtics. Between ’57 and ’66, the Celtics managed to make the Finals 10 times, losing just once in 1958. If the Warriors knock off the Trail Blazers, they’ll need to be in the conversation for one of the most dominant franchises ever.

Then again, there’s some historical significance if the Trail Blazers managed to knock off the Warriors. Before this season, the Trail Blazers had not been to the Conference Finals since 2000, breaking a19-year drought this season. That drought was tied for the fourth longest in the NBA currently, sitting behind the Clippers, Wizards, and Hornets.

If they make the Finals this year, that will break a 27-year drought, the ninth longest in the NBA. Not only that, but the Trail Blazers would go down in history as the team that officially dethroned the Warriors, which would be an accomplishment in-and-of itself, and certainly, be remembered for a while to come.