Yay! Correctly predicted 4/4 series winners, but only 1/4 on game winners. We’re entering the final twilight of the basketball season, and the games are about to get intense. Lets give out some winners for the conference finals pick-ems!
#1 Thunder vs #2 Spurs
The Thunder have the reigning league MVP, are the defending champs, and led the Western conference wire to wire. The only stumble they had was against the Spurs. The Spurs this entire year have been second in the West, but are 4-1 against the Thunder in the regular season. The Thunder are built to stop guards, but have no one who can handle Wemby’s size or athleticism. Despite Chet’s best efforts, Wemby has gotten the better of him all regular season. Another interesting tidbit, is that Shai is once again failing to play at his regular season standards in the playoffs. With his foul baiting playstyle, he relies heavily on the refs to call early and frequent fouls to prevent the defense from playing him physically. All post-season the calls have begun drying up, and his efficiency has dropped precipitously. It was unreasonable to expect him to continue to average 55% from the midrange in the post-season against better teams, but he just hasn’t played like the best player in the world statistically, or with the eye test. Wemby, meanwhile, has continued to be on a tear, and may just rip the title of best player in the world from Shai’s hands. The Spurs defense is also designed to shut down a player like Shai, who loves the midrange. Either way, this series is probably going to 7, and once it goes the distance its anyone’s game. I believe this is Wemby’s time to put his foot down, and stamp himself as the next great. In order to do that, he’s going to have to take out the defending champs. Spurs in 7.
#3 Knicks vs #4 Cavs
For a conference finals pick, I am surprisingly confident. I believe the Knicks will win easily. The Knicks are currently on the best 7 game win-differential in NBA history after sweeping the 76ers and winning the final 3 against the Hawks. The Knicks have looked like a chainsaw, running through each team they’ve faced. Meanwhile, the Cavs are coming off of two 7-game wars, against teams I don’t particularly think are impressive in the Pistons and the Raptors. The Knicks have the best player in the series in Brunson by a country mile, have the better starting 5, have the better 6th man, and have proven to be the significantly more clutch team. The Cavs have struggled against one-dimensional offenses, in both the Raptors and the Pistons. The Raptors played Scottie Barnes ball, where they funnel virtually every possession through his paint presence. Then the Pistons played Cade Cunningham ball, where every halfcourt possession began with Cade running a pick and roll at the top of the key to try and create offense. They are now about to face the Brunson led Knicks, that have players capable of creating their own offense at guard, forward, and center. Knicks pose way too many matchup problems for the Cavs. Knicks in 5.