SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Martin Rogers breaks down Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, where the Warriors used another big third quarter to beat the Blazers for a commanding 3-0 series lead. USA TODAY


PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard will hurry to tell you that the Golden State Warriors haven't finished off the Portland Trail Blazers just yet. Likewise, there are no white flags being hoisted by the Toronto Raptors, despite a 2-0 deficit that arose from a combination of being wasteful in one game and woeful in another.

That mix is equally familiar to the Trail Blazers, who threw away big leads in Games 2 and 3 akin to the Raptors' Game 1 meltdown against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The upshot is that both conference finals have the potential to turn into blowouts, with the possibility of a pair of sweeps still on the table.


Optimists, television schedulers and most certainly the NBA will sincerely hope otherwise. Everyone loves a Game 7, not just for the inherent drama but because it naturally signifies a tight, competitive and intensely-fought series.

However, should the power brokers of each conference, Golden State and Milwaukee, continue to forge their way to an NBA Finals matchup, it may actually be no bad thing. We’ve had late series excitement aplenty already in this postseason. There have been three Game 7s, two of them coming on the same day last weekend.

The Trail Blazers pulled off perhaps the most impressive feat, scaling the altitude of Denver and toppling the might of Nikola Jokic to win their decider on the road. For thrills, the extraordinary last-second heroics of Kawhi Leonard against the Philadelphia 76ers provided everything you could need to get the goosebumps bubbling.

Meanwhile, the Warriors and the Houston Rockets packed so much soap opera-worthy script into their semifinal that they only needed six games to write the tale.


What I'm Hearing: Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel breaks down the Bucks' collective mindset as the Eastern Conference finals shifts to Toronto for Games 3 and 4. USA TODAY

Yet if both conference finals were to end at four games — and you can bet your card collection that Portland and Toronto will have much to say about this — it would have at least one positive side effect.

When a league sets its postseason up in a manner like this, a drawn out process that spans two months and in which the best-of-seven format leaves little room for chancers and imposters, it only works if the ultimate showdown for the title resembles a clash of the sport’s titans.

The Warriors’ credentials on that front are firmly intact, having won three titles in four years, giving the a cloak of invincibility that has barely been ruffled despite Kevin Durant’s ongoing injury break.

On the other side, Milwaukee, if it is to be Milwaukee, has a sensational superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo and a superb body of work behind them in these playoffs. They are surging, 10-1 in the postseason, with a rout of the Detroit Pistons and the supposedly tougher Boston Celtics under their belt. It is hard to tell if it is the ferocity of their fightback against Toronto on Wednesday or the clinical precision of their second game romp that is the more scary.

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Things can change, but right now it feels like the build-up to a big boxing championship fight. Two spirited but over-matched opponents are being served up to the true contenders, who are performing in a manner that boosts their reputation and juices up interest in the ultimate pay per view showdown.

If Golden State and Milwaukee both deliver a knockout blow, away from home no less, it means a couple of things.

We will have a few days’ gap before the Finals get underway. And the anticipation for that series will be soaring.

The league didn’t get a competitive Finals last year, the Warriors sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers as if they were a mere annoyance daring to delay their summer vacation. A year earlier was a similar story, a 4-1 cruise to collect more jewelry.

You get the sense that things could be a bit different this time around, and nothing would further that narrative more than a big Milwaukee push to get over the conference finals line in short order.

Fans of Portland and Toronto will hate this column, and rightly so, as being swept out of the bracket would be a demoralizing end to a magnificent campaign for both clubs. Let’s see if their teams can do something about it over the next few days. They’ve got a heck of a task on their hands.

Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter @RogersJourno.