NBA 17-18 Round 4: NBA Finals

Finals:

Dubs over Cavs in 5 games

-I’m only not picking a sweep because the Dubs can get so bored and so lackadaisical they will likely give up a game. But holy hell when they are on. They are +500 in the third quarter this season. Think about that, they beat each team by an average of 5 points in the third quarter alone. The Dubs are, an Iggy injury aside, essentially the best they have been over the last 3 years, the most experienced and machine like. The Cavs are the worst they have been not only since the beginning of the 4 year run, but the 07 team that had no business getting to the Finals. Not having Love might actually be better for them, but….Hill versus Curry? JR versus Klay? Good luck playing Korver too, they will go at him mercilessly again. 5 game gentleman’s sweep with the point disparity of a true sweep. Lebron will put up numbers, but this is a losing battle, and the Dubs cap off 3 in 4 years.

NBA 17-18 Round 3

No excuse, I was just lazy and didn’t write round 3 in time.

East:

4. Cavs over 2. Celtics in 6 games

-Respect is even getting me to 6 games. This was my thought before the Celts blew out the Cavs in game 1, and maybe that will be the overall result. It certainly seems in play. However, I think there is too much chance Lebron has now processed the basketball calculus from the first game and will have a few monster performances. I hope I’m wrong.

West:

2. Dubs over 1. Rockets in 5 games

-I actually don’t think this will be close. Rockets have a nice team and have had a great year. But this is still the Warriors we are talking about. They have more than enough defenders for both Paul and Harden to be reasonably limited, and that will be enough. This for me will be more about seeing how healthy Curry is, but ultimately won’t matter. Durant is going to feast here, and a 1-1 or 2-0 lead for GS in Houston may be enough right off the bat.

The path is now extremely clear: The WCF is the Finals. Dubs have like a 55% chance to win the title, the Rockets 30%, Cavs 10%, Celtic 5%. The next three years though? We are now at a point where I will be surprised if the Celtics don’t win a title in that window. What they have done without Hayward and Kyrie is amazing.