NBA Playoffs 2018: Updated Championship Odds, Bracket Picture and Predictions
Plenty of intriguing storylines have developed during the first week of the NBA playoffs, but one grabs everyone's attention the second it is brought up.
The championship hopes of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers has always been a hot topic, but it has heated up more due to the pair of victories by the Indiana Pacers to start the first-round best-of-seven series.
Most of the focus has centered around the Cavs and the Philadelphia 76ers finally reaping the rewards of The Process, but you can't forget about the success of the favorites in the Western Conference.
After stumbling in two of their first three playoff games, the Cavaliers dropped beneath the Sixers and the Toronto Raptors on the championship odds list, with Golden State and Houston still on top.
Championship Odds
Golden State (+105; bet $100 to win $105)
Houston (+180)
Toronto (+850)
Philadelphia (+1000)
Cleveland (+1100)
Oklahoma City (+4000)
Utah (+4500)
New Orleans (+5500)
Indiana (+5500)
Boston (+6600)
Milwaukee (+10000)
Washington (+10000)
Miami (+15000)
Minnesota (+20000)
San Antonio (+25000)
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Toronto leads No. 8 Washington 2-1
No. 5 Indiana leads No. 4 Cleveland 2-1
No. 2 Boston is tied with No. 7 Milwaukee 2-2
No. 3 Philadelphia leads No. 6 Miami 3-1
Western Conference
No. 1 Houston leads No. 8 Minnesota 2-1
No. 5 Utah leads No. 4 Oklahoma City 2-1
No. 6 New Orleans defeated No. 3 Portland 4-0
No. 2 Golden State leads No. 7 San Antonio 3-0
Predictions
Pacers Take 3-1 Lead Over Cavaliers
It's hard to call the Indiana Pacers a surprise based off their regular-season success, but what is eye-popping about their performance over three games is how they dealt with the threat of James.
In Game 3, Bojan Bogdanovic took over the spotlight with 30 points off seven three-pointers and his play on the defensive side of the ball against James.
Although James scored 28 points, he missed over half of his 22 attempted field goals and wasn't able to beat the Pacers by himself.
Bogdanovic admitted his key to defending James is staying aggressive, per Mark Monteith of Pacers.com.
"Just trying to get into his knees, to push him to catch the ball farther from the basket," Bogdanovic said. "Against those kind of players, you can't do anything, just try to stay aggressive on them."
With an unlikely postseason hero thriving, Victor Oladipo extending his terrific regular season into the playoffs and contributions coming from every player who touches the floor, the Pacers have the perfect formula to put more pressure on Cleveland.
Oladipo, Bogdanovic, Myles Turner and Lance Stephenson are averaging over 10 points per game in the postseason compared to two Cavaliers, with Kevin Love joining James in that category.
If the Pacers are able to limit James' production to around 20 to 25 points like they did in Game 3, they'll put more pressure on Love, JR Smith and the Cavaliers' supporting cast to step up, which they haven't proved they can do yet in the series.
Indiana's supporting cast around Oladipo has done the opposite, and the X-factor in the rest of the series could be Thaddeus Young, who has the best offensive rebound percentage of any player on both rosters and an effective field-goal percentage of 65.
In addition to Young, Darren Collison, Domantas Sabonis and Cory Joseph are chipping in with the little things on both sides of the floor that don't show up in the box score.
Thanks to their superior supporting cast and defensive prowess against James, the Pacers should take a 3-1 lead and force Cleveland to produce an unlikely come-from-behind series victory.
Golden State Completes Sweep of San Antonio
Golden State will confirm the first second-round pairing Sunday, as it finishes off the San Antonio Spurs to set up a matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Warriors overwhelmed the Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs in the opening three games of the series, and much of the same continues in Sunday's Game 4 at the AT&T Center.
Steve Kerr's team is shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range, with Klay Thompson leading the charge at 65 percent.
Even though Steph Curry is out of the lineup, the Warriors haven't missed a beat thanks to their well-rounded offense.
Kevin Durant, Thompson, Draymond Green and JaVale McGee are averaging over 10 points per game in the series, while Shaun Livingston and Andre Igoudala are close to double digits as well.
Although the Spurs have three players averaging double digits in points, they've been far less accurate from the field, as they've shot 41.3 percent compared to Golden State's 52.7 percent.
The Spurs could use the March 19 win at home over the Warriors as a rallying cry to earn a victory, but you can't put too much weight on that win since Igoudala was the only Golden State regular to play significant minutes.
In the three other regular-season clashes with the Warriors, the Spurs gave up 114.6 points per game.
San Antonio can still be competitive for a half or so, but don't expect it to keep up with the Warriors for four quarters.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference.
