NBA Playoff Outlook
By Mark Franco
Playbook.com
The odds on favorite to win the NBA title, the Miami Heat, advanced to the Eastern Conference finals dispatching a very banged up Chicago Bull's team on Wednesday Night in a very close game. The Heat will now get a little extra rest before taking on the winner of the Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks series. The Pacers are looking to close out the series on Thursday in New York were they are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings. If they fail to win at MSG they have another chance on Saturday back in Indianapolis. I just can't see New York winning three in a row so I'll say Indiana is moving on.
While the Heat are the clearly the best team in the league behind King James my feeling is the Pacers will not be an easy matchup for the defending champion. D. Wade is not 100% and the Pacers will be bringing it on defense every night. The problem for Indiana will be getting enough points from their offense to out score the Heat. This Eastern Conference series will be a great one to watch.
In the Western Conference we have a great series with the San Antonio Spurs having a commanding 3-2 series lead over the up and coming young team in the Golden State Warriors. Golden State will get a chance to send the series back to San Antonio for a game seven if they can pull out a victory at home on Thursday night as a one-point underdog. If the Warriors win at home anything can happen in a game seven when you have a team that can shoot the ball like the Warriors.
The former Western Conference Champion Oklahoma City Thunder have been man handled by the Memphis Grizzlies dropping four straight to bow out of the Playoffs. No question they were a lot different of a team since super star guard Russell Westbrook when down with a injury.
The Memphis Grizzlies play a style of Basketball that can get them to the NBA Finals as they will play Golden State or more likely San Antonio to win the West.
Talking to odds makers around town here in Las Vegas a very interesting matchup for the NBA Finals would be the Indiana Pacers vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. Why you may ask? We would have some of the lowest totals every seen in a NBA Finals with the way they both play defense. We could see totals in the 170's for each game.