The NBA Conference finals are in full swing and that means only one thing: the Finals are coming. Now it’s time for the big boys to gain a date with history and the superstars are doing just that. Both the series have already started and while in the West the favourites are leading, in the East we had quite the surprise in game 1. The Oklahoma City Thunder had their way against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were always behind and never worried their opponents. The New York City Knicks though, favourites in the East, lost against the Indiana Pacers, who came back led by an extraordinary Tyrese Haliburton.
We have arrived at the last decisive games in the playoffs, which, as always, will be very intense and with a difficult outcome to predict. Those who would like to bet on these games, however, can check out the experts’ playoffs odds and predictions at https://www.oddschecker.com/us/basketball/nba/nba-championship/winner, the dedicated Oddschecker page where every enthusiast will find news, statistics and results, in order to place his or her bet in the most accurate way possible.
OKC Is Ready to Win It All
We obviously don’t want to condemn the Timberwolves before their time but it seems pretty clear that the Thunder will take the West. Oklahoma City got in the playoffs as the number 1 seed of its Conference. Their record is crystal clear: OKC won 68 games and lost just 14, because of rotations and turnover. They have an amazing player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and their defense is one of the best we have ever seen. As if these two elements weren’t already enough, the players are playing with a rare determination. When a team manages to take an offensive monster like Nikola Jokic, arguably the best basketball player in the world, out of a series, by limiting and outclassing him during each and every offensive possession, it means they are ready to go for the crown.
Every preview written these days points to Oklahoma City as the series’ winner (according to us, they will get there in six games) because they played a season to remember and set everything up to go for the trophy.
The Thunder became the seventh team ever to win 68 games and registered the second-best net rating in league history (12.8). During the first round of the playoffs they swept the Memphis Grizzlies, outscoring them by a total of 78 points. They had it rough against the Denver Nuggets but won in seven games against an injury-plagued team that, in the end, couldn’t compete with OKC’s talent, guts and sheer will. The Thunder have one of the youngest rosters in the league and they have the chance to dominate for the next few years.
The Knicks Should Pay Attention
In the East, the series caught fire immediately. The New York Knicks, who are the favourites, were up 14 points in game 1, with a little more than 3 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Indiana Pacers though didn’t surrender. At all. They pulled off a huge comeback, as they already did several other times this season, and managed to steal the game in the end, sending the NY players home scratching their heads. Nobody ever managed to score 23 points in the final 3.14 minutes of a Conference final in the play-by-play NBA era, which goes back to 1997. Then, in overtime, Indiana outscored New York 13-10.Â
As every fan already knows, the Pacers are surprisingly fresh and play an unconventional basketball extremely funny to watch. It seems they chose to stay unconventional also in the way they win their games. Who knows, maybe this series will be as crazy as it started and is about to become something we won’t forget.
We probably can expect a 7 games series in the East, because it seems like a well-balanced clash between two very good teams.
Main Image: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
