It’s been feast or famine for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference semifinal series. Games 1 and 4 have been the only ones decided by single digits, while the other four games have featured gargantuan margins. Minnesota beat Denver by 26 in Game 2 before losing Game 3 by 27. Denver won Game 5 by 15…and then got their doors blown off in Game 6, losing by 45 points. Game 7 is coming up next; which team will prevail? That’s just one question that sports betting enthusiasts are trying to answer about the NBA playoffs as the weekend looms before us. Check the updated odds for each team to win the title as we approach the NBA Conference Finals, as well as our thoughts on some of the contenders.
NBA Updated Odds to Win the Championship before the NBA Conference Finals
- Boston Celtics -140
- Denver Nuggets +350
- Dallas Mavericks +750
- Minnesota Timberwolves +900
- Oklahoma City Thunder +2000
- N.Y. Knicks +2500
- Indiana Pacers +10000
NBA Conference Finals Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics have only needed 10 games to eliminate both the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they don’t have one of their most powerful weapons from the regular season – a rejuvenated Kristaps Porzingis. He’s questionable to return for the East finals, but if he can come back and contribute, Al Horford can return to being a valuable role player, and the Celtics will have to be a smart pick to win the title, even though the value really isn’t there for bettors. While the team is still not taking questions about Porzingis’ health, the Latvian center did post an update on his Instagram story, showing himself working out and getting back into game shape. His injury is a right soleus calf strain, the same ailment that has kept Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the postseason. It took him out of the playoffs, starting in Game 5 of the Celtics’ first-round series with the Heat. Officially, he doesn’t have a timetable to come back, but the team misses his 20 points and 7 boards per game.
NBA Conference Finals Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets looked like they were headed to the golf course instead of the conference finals after the first two games of their conference semifinal series with the Timberwolves. They had dropped Games 1 and 2 at home and were headed to Minneapolis looking like their confidence had abandoned them. They drew back even by winning two road games and pushed the Timberwolves to the brink in Game 5 before getting routed in Game 6. One problem in Game 6 was the elbow injury to Jamal Murray, who ran into a Rudy Gobert screen on just the second defensive possession of the contest. He never left the game, but he flexed his right arm after the injury and then applied numbing cream when he returned to the bench, but he said it never felt right the rest of the way. As important as Nikola Jokic is to the Nuggets’ fortunes, they also need a healthy Murray.
NBA Conference Finals Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks have a couple of huge wins in their West semifinal series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, stealing Game 2 on the road and then controlling Games 3 and 5. Allowing Game 4 to slip out of their hands was a mistake, but it is one they can rectify with a Game 6 win up in Oklahoma. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have put together a solid rhythm with Doncic running the offense in the first half and Irving taking a more dominant role after the intermission. The deadly shooting and timely defense from P.J. Washington have spread to the team as a whole. The team’s third-leading scorer from the regular season, Tim Hardaway Jr, went down in the first round with an ankle sprain against the Clippers. He returned for the second round but has been inconsistent. He went off for 17 points in Game 2, going 6 of 10 overall and 2 of 4 from downtown. In the fourth-quarter meltdown in Game 4, he had a dreadful turnover in the last minute, and his airball and turnover late in the fourth quarter of Game 5 helped make the outcome a bit more suspenseful. Can he find his hot shooting touch? The Mavericks can always use more help on offense, especially with Maxi Kleber (shoulder) done for the postseason.
NBA Conference Finals Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves have an intrepid leader in Anthony Edwards, who looks ready to be the next great player in a Western Conference that is already ridiculous in its talent advantage over the East. The Timberwolves have a defense that can shut down opponents – but that can also allow baskets in bunches, especially in transition. The key for the Timberwolves will be the contributions from center Karl-Anthony Towns. After Nikola Jokic torched Minnesota for 40 points in Game 5, the Timberwolves had to make some adjustments, and they did, using Towns as their primary defender on Jokic with Gobert playing nearby and helping as needed. Jokic’s point total dropped to 22 points and just two assists. The Timberwolves also got a boost from the return of Mike Conley, who played 31 minutes and notched 13 points and five assists while serving as the primary playmaker, allowing Edwards to fly around the halfcourt offense and generate points.
NBA Conference Finals Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder came into the playoffs as the top seed in the West, but they are just one loss from elimination. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is producing, looking like the next iteration of Dwyane Wade, crashing the rim (and getting the benefit of a lot of friendly whistles) and spotting up from downtown. They really need their other scoring options to heat back up like we saw them in Game 1, when the Thunder rolled over the Mavericks in a performance that we haven’t really seen since in this series. The exception came in the last half of the fourth quarter of Game 4, but that had more to do with the Mavericks missing nine shots in a row and making barely over half of their free throws in the game. The Thunder need to figure out how to get inside and score more regularly, and it’s Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren who need to up their point totals. Williams likes to crash the rim, but there just hasn’t been space inside, and so he’s been settling for jump shots that he’s been missing. Over the last four games, the Thunder have shot 44% as a team and have averaged between 100 and 101 points per contest. Williams is the second-leading scorer on the team, and he needs to up his contribution.
NBA Conference Finals New York Knicks
The N.Y. Knicks took an emphatic 2-0 series lead against the Indiana Pacers in the East semifinals, only to head west for Games 3 and 4 and get buried, not once but twice. When the series went back to Madison Square Garden, though, the Knicks pounded the Pacers by 30 and now lead the series, 3-2. Coach Tom Thibodeau put Miles McBride into the lineup as the other guard alongside Jalen Brunson, with both starting in Game 5. When those two were on the floor, along with Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, and Isaiah Hartenstein were on the floor together during the regular season, they posted an eye-popping +104 rating during just 172 minutes. In Game 5, putting McBride and Brunson together gave Brunson more room to operate, and the pick-and-roll game exploited Tyrese Haliburton all night long. Their focus is to expose the other team’s worst defender with a series of pick-and-rolls and stack up points that way. Will it work again in Game 6? We will see.
NBA Conference Finals Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers did have the top-producing offense in the NBA this season, even if we didn’t see any signs of it in the 121-91 beating they took from the Knicks in Game 5. That followed up a 121-89 win for the Pacers in Game 4. In Game 5, the Pacers simply got out-worked at every level. They weren’t boxing out on the boards, permitting 20 offensive rebounds and allowing 29 more shot attempts. They had 15 turnovers, the most in any playoff games. Tyrese Haliburton basically disappeared under the face guarding that Miles McBride gave him, ending up with just 13 points on ine attempts, along with five assists, two steals and two blocks. He would let someone else bring up the ball and then basically hang around on the perimeter, staying out of the action. The Pacers need a lot more of him in Game 6.
WOLVES FORCE GAME 7 SUNDAY IN DENVER
— NBA (@NBA) May 17, 2024
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