Was there ever any doubt?

 

It's actually quite fitting. The hype is real and the fantasy roots that are being represented run deep.... The narratives are all there...

 

The two respective conference leaders.

 

60+ win seasons.

 

21 and 28 in a row.

 

Harden and AD.

 

The Brazilian blur and The Mac Daddy....

 

The NSL's first season's playoff display has presented unprecedented excitement, twists and turns, crazy come backs and upsets and some dominant dispatching of those teams who in the end, are not worthy to be crowned the first champion of our great young league.

 

Out West we saw early struggles from the Blazers trying to contain the Latvian gangbanger, the apparent MVP front runner captaining a sinking ship, an epic 3-1 comeback by the Suns against all odds, a harsh lesson in house keeping for the boisterous JJ and his Spurs and the Kings, at least for the time being, proving to be the rulers of the pacific division.

 

Out on the East Syeeed we beared witness to the Bulls decimating opponents and leaving in their wake shattered dreams and horrible "hot takes" from the blog boys all while cruising to a 12-0 play off run. A glimpse into the future of the young Heat and the Wizards knocking off the second and third seeds to flex against the leagues elite in the conference finals.

 

It's been a crazy ride but finally we arrive at our destination being the 2019-2020 NSL Finals. Something that seemed like a mere pipe dream not to long ago...


 

PORTLAND:

 

The OG Fantasy Elite. Word of his talents and exploits are sung across the land in old fables and tales that have been told for generations. They say there's no deal this man can't close... And no roster safe from his dizzying highs and crashing lows. Puts everything he has into this league and he now gets to pull the trigger on a seemingly perfect season.

36 players in total saw minutes through out the season for the Blazers. When the phrase "traded his whole team" gets thrown about in jest, its more or less referencing every single season for J-macs fantasy basketball teams. That being said they have consistently won ball games despite the slew of players they've thrown out there in all sorts of whacky line ups.

 

The Blazers have found their line up of death we all feared they would with Gay at the four. The other surprise no one is giving much notice to is the "Dennis Rodman" like role WCS is playing at the three just doing all the little things and somehow not ruining their spacing or offence in anyway. The Blazers have reached their final form and I don't know if they can be stopped.

 

CHICAGO:

 

The international man of mystery himself. Merencio is no stranger to controversy and pushing the limits in 2k and what is possible in game. Has put together an elite team around a true MVP contender for the next 10 years in AD. Gone 12-0 leading into the finals against some quality teams. He's done everything right and has made it look way to easy to those on the outside who dare question his skills.

 

Merencio was frugal on the trade front all year and for good reason; His team was winning. Some may look at a team who's won 20 something in a row and go "you know what? I'm blowing it up" but nooo not Merencio. He's a man with integrity and patience who plays the long game, biding his time waiting to strike. The acquisition of D-Lo was perfect and they found the missing piece the needed to catapult to true contender status.

Keys to the series:

-Can the Blazers stop AD?... He's averaged 31.1/14.4/4.4/2.4/1.9 all playoffs and the Bulls are +10.4 with him on the court. You thought Zinger gave the Blazers some problems? *AD laughs in unibrow*

-Who is Leonard being unleashed on?... Kawhi is hands down the best perimeter defender in the series and on paper at least proves to be a disaster match up for any of the Bulls smaller guards. If they loose any sort of offence from any of them against a team dropping 120 a game on the reg then they're in trouble.

-Can Harden actually show up for once?... Keeping it 100 he's actually been really average all play offs. Sure the Blazers don't rely on him as much as other teams do with their stars but this is the perfect match up for him to go off in.

-Battle of the 6th men... Randle vs Murray. Both will play heavy minutes and both bring completely different things to their respective teams. Both are super important though to what each team is trying to do. Murray has been a killer all post season and with EG in the starting line up the Bulls really don't have an option off the bench defensively for him. On the other side Randle will play almost all of the back up front court mins and will be a huge reason whether they win or lose against a team in Portland who play super big.



Prediction:

I'll go with what I predicted prior to the series actually starting and say 4-1. I think Bulls win game 3 at home as they should but Portland will go back home 3-1 to close it out in game 5. Just to many weapons, in unstoppable form and will in the end just be to much for the Bulls. Wall would've been super handy right now hey?

Good luck brothers.