The 2014 NBA season has been one to remember for sure.

Cliches aside, 2014 brought surprises, breakout teams and new stars in the world’s top basketball league. From the race for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference to the super-surprise teams in the West — shocking events were plentiful leading into a much-anticipated playoffs.

Western Conference

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant broke through the proverbial wall this season as he has all but officially won the Most Valuable Player award.

As I predicted at the beginning of the season, Durant has shined throughout the whole year. From his record 41-straight games of 25-plus points per game, to averaging 32 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, Durant jumped onto the same playing field as LeBron James.

No longer is Durant an obvious second to LeBron because the anger and ferocious attack he brought to every game proved to be positive for his playing style and for his team. Increased scoring, more instances of attacking the hoop and overall higher level of team play made it much easier for the Thunder to win.

Although the Western Conference is much harder than the East, and every matchup the Thunder can possibly get will be difficult, I don’t see how the Thunder can’t get through to the Finals.

I’ve never been more wrong about a team than the Portland Trail Blazers. Okay, maybe the Milwaukee Bucks, who I had earning the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. But I had the Trailblazers in last in the Northwest Division, when in actuality they earned the 5th seed in the West.

Damian Lillard emerged as a star in the league after he led the Blazers with 20.7 points per game and 5.6 assists. A lot of those assists went to pivot LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazer big man who stepped his game up and became the top-post player in virtually every game he was a part of. I didn’t think that Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews would be this good, but it seems that everyone in Portland stepped their games up and came together as a solid team. Their offense is scary good in spurts with Lillard’s deadly 3-point shooting and with Aldridge and Lopez down low, Portland could make a solid run if their defense can produce enough stops.

Eastern Conference

One of the most shocking turns of events ever to happen in the NBA took place this season as the Indiana Pacers came into the 2013-14 season looking to earn the number one seed in order to lockup home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Indiana was convinced that if they had played Game Seven in Indiana last season, they would have slayed the mighty Miami Heat and it would have been the Pacers playing the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

After an amazingly strong start, Indiana looked poised to have a solid lead over Miami for the one seed and would be able to coast into the playoffs. Around February, something changed, and after they traded away Danny Granger for Philadelphia guard Evan Turner, the Pacers were obviously not the same. Center Roy Hibbert has been the main culprit and finger-pointing target among the NBA experts for Indiana’s collapse. His lack of defense and scoring as a 7-foot-2-inch human is astonishing and, to be honest, really embarrassing.

Indiana earned the first seed with Miami content to rest players and slide into the two-spot, setting up an Indiana-Atlanta Hawks first-round matchup.

Atlanta took it to the Pacers at full force in Game One on Saturday and won by eight. The eight-point margin is low for how bad Indiana got manhandled by the below-.500 Hawks, and if Indiana can’t turn it around quickly, they’ll become the one of the biggest disappointments in recent memory. Head coach Frank Vogel would likely have to search for other employment.

Award Predictions

At the beginning of the season, I predicted Durant to win the MVP. I was right with this selection as Durant put on one of the most spectacular seasons in NBA history.

Think about this: try going to your local rec and scoring 25 points in one game. Then do it for 41 more games. Then play on the college team and do the same thing. Then try to do it against people who get paid millions of dollars to play basketball.

Would you even be able to score 25points in a rec game? That’s how impressive Durant’s 42-game streak was. LeBron had a great season, too, but it didn’t compare to Durant’s 82-game offensive clinic.

I had Serge Ibaka, forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, taking home Defensive Player of the Year at the beginning of the season. With 2.7 blocks per game, Ibaka would be a solid candidate for the award, and some would say he can still win it this season. However, Joakim Noah, center for the Chicago Bulls, had a breakout season. Without Derrick Rose, Noah stepped up with 1.5 blocks, 1.2 steals and 11.3 rebounds a game while also attracting MVP talk. I do not think he is that good, but Noah has definitely shown to be a top-flight center in the league.

Maybe my worst pick of the season was my Most Improved player award, who I gave to Bucks forward Larry Sanders. Sanders missed over a month’s worth of games after breaking his thumb in a bar fight at the beginning of the season, and when he came back, he didn’t make any difference in the Bucks season whatsoever as the Bucks only won 15 games.

I think Anthony Davis, power forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, will be the winner. He’s definitely catapulted himself into “Best Big Man in the Game” conversations.

I had Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic winning Rookie of the Year before the season, and after 82 games, I think he should still win the award.

I had Mark Jackson, head coach of the Golden State Warriors, winning Coach of the Year before the season. Right now, I could see Jason Kidd of the Brooklyn Nets winning the award as well as Portland’s Terry Stotts as they both brought their teams to high seeds in their own conferences.

Playoff Predictions

The playoffs have begun, and I am excited to see who is for real and who is not. I expect the Pacers to either lose in the first round to the Hawks or in the next against either the Bulls or Washington Wizards. I see the Heat making it to the Finals in the East because, let’s be honest, there isn’t anyone in the East outside of maybe the Bulls or the Nets, who have beaten them four straight times this season, who can take them down.

In the West, the conference is a lot more wide-open. Oklahoma City, the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets are all contenders in my eyes. Golden State lacks a big man now that Andrew Bogut is out, and as much as the experts like them because they are fun to watch, I don’t see them making it very far, probably not even by the Clippers in the first round.

I still stand by my pre-season pick of Oklahoma City making it to the finals, just not over the Warriors as I had previously picked, but over San Antonio instead.

In the Finals, I stand by my pick of the Thunder over the Heat in six games as Durant finally breaks out of this second-best chokehold he’s been in for years. It’s Durant’s time, we need to just sit back and watch it happen.