NBA Finals 2015: Predictions, Championship Odds for Remaining Teams
These conference finals have been, well, duds.
The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to have beaten the life out of the Atlanta Hawks and currently hold a commanding 2-0 lead. Similarly, the Golden State Warriors, now up 3-0, seem to have broken the spirit of the once-resilient Houston Rockets.
What gives? These matchups were supposed to produce some of the best basketball we’d see all year.
Oh well. It hopefully means the NBA Finals will be that much better. Odds Shark has the lowdown on who’s favored to win it all.
Title Odds
| Golden State Warriors | 4/7 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 13/5 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 9/1 |
| Houston Rockets | 10/1 |
Predictions
East
It’s over.
The one-man-show of LeBron James has completely outplayed the Hawks. It doesn’t look like the East’s best regular-season team will save face at all this series.
James has averaged 30.5 points (45.8 percent), 8.5 assists and 8.5 boards in Games 1 and 2. The Hawks, who have proved to be vulnerable to superstar explosions this postseason, have had no answer, especially with DeMarre Carroll suffering a pretty nasty knee sprain in the opener.
Carroll tried to give it a go in Game 2, but he wasn't in any state to slow down LBJ, who abused Kent Bazemore and everyone else Atlanta tried to throw at him.
Kyle Korver was surprisingly ruled out for the rest of the playoffs with an ankle injury, per Chris Vivlamore of AJC.com:
Vivlamore reported that Mike Budenholzer has not decided who to start in place of the All-Star. The coach talked about Korver’s importance to the Hawks:
Carroll is hurt. Al Horford is banged up. Thabo Sefolosha is out for the year. Now, so too is Korver.
But injuries are no excuse. James has been playing without Kevin Love, one of the game’s premier power forwards, and with a seriously hampered Kyrie Irving, who now might sit out the rest of the series.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg thinks that’s the smart thing to do:
Atlanta and all of its team basketball worshipers are finished. The King will almost certainly sweep these peasants up in four games.
West
This is not over.
That’s right—the Houston Rockets haven’t flatlined just yet, though they’re dancing with death.
Stephen Curry put on a 40-point clinic in Game 3. He hit 12-of-19 field goals, seven-of-nine three-pointers and nine of his 10 foul shots. He dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds.
He even punked out an obnoxious Houston fan sitting courtside.
It was the type of game that could very well spell defeat for the downtrodden Rockets. James Harden put forth just 17 points in a contest owned by the only player to get more MVP votes than the Beard. The shooting guard threw in a meager four assists and three rebounds.
Entering Game 3, Harden had been averaging 33 points, 10.5 boards and nine assists. Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver passed along Harden’s shot chart from Saturday night—let's hope you’re not allergic to the color red:
What happened?
The Rockets didn’t show up. That’s what it comes down to.
But they, at least more so than the Hawks, have a faint pulse. Despite his poor performance in Game 3, Harden is still a top-five player in this league and is more than capable of leading a minor comeback in this series.
It’s hard to imagine the team that defeated the super-talented Los Angeles Clippers in seven games would go on to get swept with ease in the next round.
The Warriors will almost certainly reach the NBA Finals, and expect James to be waiting when Curry gets there.
All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
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