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NBA / Basketball
Written by Eddie Huband
The NBA postseason is officially underway, and things look very wide open this year, particularly in the Eastern Conference. Full disclosure, my pick for the finals is Phoenix over Boston in 6…
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other teams that have a legitimate shot, some that might be slipping under everyone’s radar. I’ll also give out my best bets for the first round.
Source (Background Photos): Getty Images
WEST
A few days ago, this pick was pretty clear; Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. But after Luka’s calf strain sustained in game 82, forcing him to miss game 1 against Utah which Dallas lost, there’s just too much uncertainty to see them making a finals run.
Calf strains can linger, and even if Luka can be back by game 2, who knows what kind of shape he’ll be in moving forward.
All that’s to say, I’m going with the Golden State Warriors here. Not many people are talking about the Warriors coming out of the west, mainly because of the sheer dominance of Phoenix and the addicting exuberance of the Memphis Grizzlies at the top of the conference.
Golden State, the #3 seed, has been underwhelming by their standards this year, especially in the second half of the season, but they dealt with a ton of injuries and they have more championship experience to fall back on than any other team in the west combined.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have played just two games together this season, and with Curry looking like he’ll play in either game 1 or 2 of their round one series against Denver, they’ll finally have their full complement of players.
Steph will be rusty at first, but if he can work his way back into form, the idea of him, Klay and the human torch Jordan Poole getting hot at the same time while Draymond flies around making plays is frightening, to say the least.
Golden State also has a very favourable path. There are harder first-round matchups out there hen the Denver Nuggets, and moving forward, they won’t have to see Phoenix until a potential conference finals matchup.
If Steph comes back to being himself, this team can beat anyone on any given night, but the real key is Poole. He’s taken a huge step this year as a lead scorer, now he’ll have to figure out on the fly how to get his shots in the flow while playing with the splash brothers.
If he does, don’t be surprised if the Warriors find themselves in the finals for the sixth time in eight years.
EAST
It’s a bit strange to consider a #1 seed as a dark horse, but the consensus finals pick seems to be between Milwaukee, Brooklyn and Boston for many.
Miami doesn’t have the star power that those three teams have per se, but this is a team that’s built for playoff success.
Bam Adebayo has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA this year, and when Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry are at their playoff best, the combination of the three could be devastating.
Tyler Herro is going to have to be consistent off the bench with his scoring because the Heat can struggle to get good shots down the stretch of games from time to time, but he certainly isn’t afraid of the moment.
Miami, like Golden State, also has a favourable path as well. The hope here is that Milwaukee and Boston/Brooklyn beat each other up in a grind-it-out second-round series, and the winner has nothing left in the tank when they advance to go up against Miami in the conference finals. Their second-round matchup will be either Toronto or Philly, neither of which should give them too many issues.
Miami has shooting, they have arguably the best coach in the NBA, they have finals experience, and they play defence.
They aren’t the ‘coolest’ pick to make the finals, but this east is so wide open that if you can get decent odds for them coming out, jump on them.
Speaking of odds…
BEST BETS FOR ROUND ONE
Here are a couple of good value bets that I think will hit in the first round.
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