{"id":22788,"date":"2014-05-19T23:24:54","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T23:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/?p=22788"},"modified":"2014-05-19T23:24:54","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T23:24:54","slug":"experts-picks-and-predictions-for-nba-conference-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/experts-picks-and-predictions-for-nba-conference-finals.html","title":{"rendered":"Experts’ Picks and Predictions for NBA Conference Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
Henry Abbott, J.A. Adande, Kevin Arnovitz, Chris Broussard, Bradford Doolittle, Amin Elhassan, Chad Ford, Israel Gutierrez, Tom Haberstroh, Benjamin Morris, Kevin Pelton, Ramona Shelburne, Marc Stein, Ethan Strauss, David Thorpe, MichaelWallace, Brian Windhorst<\/td>\n
Heat in 5 (3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Heat in 6 (12)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Heat in 7 (2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Spurs in 6 (4)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Spurs in 7 (9)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Thunder in 6 (3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Over at the Spurs-Thunder series, majority of the ESPN writers sided with the Spurs. Of the 16 experts who were asked, 13 picked the Spurs to block Oklahoma City\u2018s path back to the NBA finals. The Spurs just have a bench (39.5 PPG in these Playoffs) too deep for the Thunder to match. Even more telling for the series will be the absence of Serge Ibaka, who was declared to miss the rest of the season after suffering a calf injury. It can only be deduced that San Antonio\u2019s big men will take full advantage of the glaring hole in the post left by Ibaka.[sc:NBA240banner ]<\/p>\n
But the absence of Ibaka barely means anything to the trio of Israel Gutierrez, Benjamin Morris, and Brian Windhorst, who all went against the flow and penciled in the Thunder to upset San Antonio in six games. With or without Ibaka, they assume that Oklahoma will still be fine, thinking that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (combine for 58 PPG in these Playoffs) will be too much for the Spurs to handle.<\/p>\n
Sports Illustrated<\/h3>\n
*Expected number of games of each series in parentheses<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n
Experts<\/th>\n
Picks and Predictions<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
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Lee Jenkins<\/th>\n
Pacers (7)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
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Ben Golliver<\/th>\n
Heat (5), Spurs (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
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Rob Mahoney<\/th>\n
Heat (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
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Matt Dollinger<\/th>\n
Pacers (7), Thunder (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
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Chad Johnson<\/th>\n
(Heat 6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
The hoops experts at Sports Illustrated are not as cynical of the Pacers as the folks at ESPN are. The votes were split in half between the four writers with Lee Jenkins and Matt Dollinger favoring Indiana, while Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney have Miami edging the Pacers in five and six games, respectively.<\/p>\n
Dollinger refused to give up on the Pacers, having seen Hibbert\u2019s reemergence against the Washington Wizards. After averaging a horrific 4.6 PPG in the Pacers\u2019 first eight games in these Playoffs, including three contests wherein he scored zero points, Hibbert appeared to have turned the corner. He is now averaging 15.5 PPG in his Indiana\u2019s last six games \u2013 he had 19 points and nine boards in Game 1 versus Miami. All of a sudden, Hibbert is back to being the biggest threat to the Heat\u2019s ascension to the NBA throne. Echoing Dollinger\u2019s sentiments is Lee Jenkins, who added that the Pacers offer a \u201ctroublesome match-up\u201d to Miami.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the other series, Ben Golliver likes the chances of San Antonio against the Thunder. He has the Spurs closing out the series in six games, owing to the fact that the Thunder\u2019s loss of Ibaka is too severe for Oklahoma City to weather San Antonio. Dollinger, on the other hand, pointed out to Tony Parker\u2019s susceptible hamstring to be a bigger difference in the series. He selected Oklahoma City to stop the Spurs in six games.<\/p>\n
CBS<\/h3>\n
*Expected number of games of each series in parentheses<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n
Experts<\/th>\n
Picks and Predictions<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n
\n
Lee Jenkins<\/th>\n
Heat (5), Spurs (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Ben Golliver<\/th>\n
Heat (6), Spurs (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Rob Mahoney<\/th>\n
Heat (6), Spurs (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
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Matt Dollinger<\/th>\n
Heat (6), Thunder (6)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
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<\/th>\n
<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
After the Heat lost to Indiana in Game 1, Kenn Berger of CBS sports needs the defending champions to win four straight for his prediction to come true. He predicted Miami to win the series in Game 5. His other four colleagues all have identical picks of Miami in six games. \u00a0It\u2019s apparent that all of them are no longer buying the hype (if there\u2019s any left) of Indiana. They would rather go with the Heat, who have shown poise, while playing championship basketball throughout the postseason.<\/p>\n
![\"Oklahoma](\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Westbrook_Parker-thunder-spurs-600x375.jpg\")
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