The NBA Playoffs, while great and exciting in its own right, is not the NCAA Tournament. There are no Cinderella no. 7 seeds that go on magical runs to win the title. Instead, there are established contenders that we expect to be playing in June. But which of this year’s top title challengers will lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy?
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2014 NBA Finals Betting Trends and Analysis
Eastern Conference
[sc:NBA240banner ]The East may not have the impossible depth of the West, but it’s heavy at the top, starting with the Miami Heat. The defending champs have made three of their four all-time NBA Finals appearances in the last three years, and are odds-on favorites to make a fifth trip this season behind the Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Meanwhile, their big rivals in the East this season, the Indiana Pacers, have advanced further in the playoffs in each season under Frank Vogel. After making their seventh trip to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the logical next step will be a second trip to the NBA Finals, but their late-season struggles have put a damper on those plans.
The Pacers’ decline could open the door for the Chicago Bulls to sneak in for their 12th conference finals appearance. Obviously, Derrick Rose’s continued absence dents the Bulls’ chances of adding to their six Jordan-led trips to the Finals, but don’t count out Tom Thibodeau’s team just yet.
Western Conference
The majority of the true contenders for the 2014 NBA championship hail from the West, led by the 62-win San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have now made 34 trips to the NBA playoffs, half of them coming in the Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era. They are favorites to make consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, something they have not done in their previous five Finals appearances. It’s no surprise then that the Spurs are nine-point favorites in their first game against the Mavericks.
The Thunder beat the Spurs in the conference finals back in 2012 to reach the franchise’s fourth-ever NBA Finals and first in Oklahoma City. With MVP-elect Kevin Durant and a now-healthy Russell Westbrook, the Thunder are gunning to make it back.
The Rockets (won ’94-’95 NBA Finals) and Blazers (lost ’90 and ’92 NBA Finals) had their heyday in the 90’s and have barely sniffed the conference finals since. But with young superstars (Dwight Howard and James Harden for Houston, LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard for Portland) leading the way, this could be the year either team ends their drought if they can survive their first round series.
Speaking of droughts, the Clippers franchise has gone its entire 44-year existence without so much as a trip to the conference finals. However, with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin led by championship-winning coach Doc Rivers, the Clippers have as good a shot as any to finally make it past the second round this year.
With so many great series tipping off on Saturday, now is the time to create an account at Top Bet and get into the action.
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