NBA Conference Finals
It is not a great shock to see that three of the top four teams in the betting when the playoff race began are still in the championship race. The Spurs, The Thunder and The Heat were all part of the favourites group. The only team of the top four that have been eliminated from the playoffs was the Chicago Bulls and it was clearly obvious that, once they lost their star player Derrick Rose, their chances of winning an NBA title were dramatically diminished.
In the Western Conference the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game that will be a battle of two teams with completely different game plans. The Thunder are a young team that can be devastating on the break and will take full advantage of any turnovers committed by San Antonio. However, the Spurs are a veteran team that have been there and done it before and they are certainly far from past it. When it comes down to pure talent Oklahoma might be the better group of athletes but the Spurs will not go down easily and when the pressure is on the younger Thunder team may just find it too much too soon. That being said you can get the Thunder at a whopping 15/8 to win the Western Conference and certainly at that price the Thunder might be worth the risk.
Similarly in the Eastern Conference finals we have another battle of a veteran team versus a team of very talented young players as the Heat play the Celtics. Miami have some of the best players in the league right now with Lebron and Wade. However they have lost a key player in Bosh and while they may beat the Celtics without him they are going to find it difficult to get past the Spurs or the Thunder. Boston can beat Miami but in order to do so I think they will need to win at least one of the first two games at Miami. The Heat a vulnerable on the road and the Celtics can beat them in their arena but at Miami they are very very good and the task may prove a little tough for a Celtics team that is riddled with injury having lost Bradley and Stiemsma and neither Rondo nor Allen are playing at one hundred percent.
I think this may turn into a Miami versus San Antonio final but I certainly wouldn’t rule out the Thunder just yet. If they do make the final and play against Miami they will match up very well against Miami and it may be that Miami could finished second best for the second year running.
