So who wins the NBA Championship?

[louielouie]

okc is probably legit best value on boatd but i see a cavs spurs finals

[sando]

Insane how people just totally dismiss Toronto, like Cleveland is some sort of super team that can't be beaten. What a joke. There are very few genuinely knowledgable people who can see a way that the Cav's can beat either Warriors or the Spurs 4 times in 7 games. Even worse chance as they are giving up home court.

[louielouie]

Yeah books must be giving away free money at +600 huh Sando?? LeBron has never played on a team more favored to make the finals than the team he is playing on this year. Think about that. Not one of his Cavs teams and not a Heat team ever had more prohibitable "make the finals" odds than the Cavs team this year which just faked a season full of drama. Why in any season of basketball is this the season LeBron is most favored to make the finals? I'll wait for you to tear up your Raptors future....

BECAUSE THE CAVS WILL WIN THE EAST

OK got it, thanks

[Seto]

Yeah books must be giving away free money at +600 huh Sando?? LeBron has never played on a team more favored to make the finals than the team he is playing on this year. Think about that. Not one of his Cavs teams and not a Heat team ever had more prohibitable "make the finals" odds than the Cavs team this year which just faked a season full of drama. Why in any season of basketball is this the season LeBron is most favored to make the finals? I'll wait for you to tear up your Raptors future....

BECAUSE THE CAVS WILL WIN THE EAST

OK got it, thanks

Really? I don't actually recall for sure what the odds were but the Heat were absolutely ENORMOUS favourites in the East in 2013 (the year they had the 27-game winning streak). I do believe they were -110 to win it all before the playoffs started so I can't imagine they were any less than -400 to win the East.

[Manny0825]

Insane how people just totally dismiss Toronto, like Cleveland is some sort of super team that can't be beaten. What a joke. There are very few genuinely knowledgable people who can see a way that the Cav's can beat either Warriors or the Spurs 4 times in 7 games. Even worse chance as they are giving up home court.

We do this almost every year....toronto is on the rise...toronta this...toronto that...and they lose. Everytime. The Cavs have absolutely zero competition in the east. None. Not even the heat or boston. Every year we have seen that lebron has regular season mode, and playoff mode. In playoff mode, his team wont be stopped in the east. Boston and the heat are good...but thats it. The cavs are much better than them. Yes the cavs have issues, yes lebron cries a lot, yadda yadda. But lets be real, the cavs are in the finals. Lebron led teams have been to the finals 6 times in a row....thats the only stat that matters.

[lakerboy]

People are not looking at the hawks. They have a solid team.

Louielouie if the cavs don't make the finals( which they wont) will you come here and say the "stink"?

[stevenash]

The chalk answer is the team who won the championship last season wins again.

Now there are two teams out of the east that can knock out Cleveland, they are Toronto, and Miami.
Raptors have the two best starting guards in the business in the east, they also have a better center than Cleveland.
Toronto has a good bench too.

Miami is going to come out of the east, and I'll tell you why.

Dragic is like worlds better than he was when he was wasting away in Phoenix.
Even though his last year in Phoenix was good, his turnovers are down.
Look at what he's doing tonight, he is dismantling Detroit, and both squads are playing regulars at regular minutes.
16 points 5 boards, 3 dishes and a steal, game is still going on, but the fills the stat sheet, have to love a PG like that,


Dwayne Wade, going to the Hall of Fame.
Enough said.

Luoa Deng is a rock steady very underrated small forward,.
Bosh is hurt, the move to pick up Joe Johnson was brilliant, capable of starting, his best role is off the bench.
I like the way they start Stadumire four 5 minutes, and then bring on the beast, Mr. Whiteside.

The bench is good, they and the Raptors both play stellar defense, Heat defense is outstanding.

Do not sleep on the Heat!

[Seto]

The chalk answer is the team who won the championship last season wins again.

Now there are two teams out of the east that can knock out Cleveland, they are Toronto, and Miami.
Raptors have the two best starting guards in the business in the east, they also have a better center than Cleveland.
Toronto has a good bench too.

Miami is going to come out of the east, and I'll tell you why.

Dragic is like worlds better than he was when he was wasting away in Phoenix.
Even though his last year in Phoenix was good, his turnovers are down.
Look at what he's doing tonight, he is dismantling Detroit, and both squads are playing regulars at regular minutes.
16 points 5 boards, 3 dishes and a steal, game is still going on, but the fills the stat sheet, have to love a PG like that,


Dwayne Wade, going to the Hall of Fame.
Enough said.

Luoa Deng is a rock steady very underrated small forward,.
Bosh is hurt, the move to pick up Joe Johnson was brilliant, capable of starting, his best role is off the bench.
I like the way they start Stadumire four 5 minutes, and then bring on the beast, Mr. Whiteside.

The bench is good, they and the Raptors both play stellar defense, Heat defense is outstanding.

Do not sleep on the Heat!

I remember we talked about this a couple months ago and I was skeptical Miami had it in them to make a run. I have come around since then, they're probably the biggest threat to Cleveland in the East. Still tough to see them actually pulling it out without Bosh though.

[Manny0825]

The chalk answer is the team who won the championship last season wins again.

Now there are two teams out of the east that can knock out Cleveland, they are Toronto, and Miami.
Raptors have the two best starting guards in the business in the east, they also have a better center than Cleveland.
Toronto has a good bench too.

Miami is going to come out of the east, and I'll tell you why.

Dragic is like worlds better than he was when he was wasting away in Phoenix.
Even though his last year in Phoenix was good, his turnovers are down.
Look at what he's doing tonight, he is dismantling Detroit, and both squads are playing regulars at regular minutes.
16 points 5 boards, 3 dishes and a steal, game is still going on, but the fills the stat sheet, have to love a PG like that,


Dwayne Wade, going to the Hall of Fame.
Enough said.

Luoa Deng is a rock steady very underrated small forward,.
Bosh is hurt, the move to pick up Joe Johnson was brilliant, capable of starting, his best role is off the bench.
I like the way they start Stadumire four 5 minutes, and then bring on the beast, Mr. Whiteside.

The bench is good, they and the Raptors both play stellar defense, Heat defense is outstanding.

Do not sleep on the Heat!

miami wont do anything. Toronto is a joke. They have had those same "two best starting guards in the business in the east" for the past few seasons and nothing happens. 1st/2nd round exits everytime. They always look good and lose in the post season. You are comparing regular season version of cavs. You have to factor in playoff cavs now. Remeber last season when cavs were struggling during the regular season?? Before the all star break almost was under 500. Then playoff time, a completely different team. Same cavs that cruised through east last season. And will do so again this season. Cavs vs whoever comes out of west.

[Seto]

miami wont do anything. Toronto is a joke. They have had those same "two best starting guards in the business in the east" for the past few seasons and nothing happens. 1st/2nd round exits everytime. They always look good and lose in the post season. You are comparing regular season version of cavs. You have to factor in playoff cavs now. Remeber last season when cavs were struggling during the regular season?? Before the all star break almost was under 500. Then playoff time, a completely different team. Same cavs that cruised through east last season. And will do so again this season. Cavs vs whoever comes out of west.

You're being too kind with the Raptors. They've never even been to the 2nd round with this core. 2 first round exits having had homecourt each time. Pathetic.

[louielouie]

cavs will win the east dont waste your money on anyone else man oh man

[jjgold]

The two dark horses are Miami and the LA Clippers

[rpesi9955]

cavs will win the east dont waste your money on anyone else man oh man

Agreed but anything can happen.

[Ra77er]

Charlotte Hornets win the East
Golden State win the West

Curry is stung by his father and MJ which leads to him going into hiding for 7 years trying to find his shot again. The whole NBA world is stunned...Kemba wins MVP, Clifford immediately retires to Florida to play golf.

[Skrilla777]

Warriors still the team to beat.some of you can pretend to be psychic. Who the fukk knows for sure what's going happen

[louielouie]

rpesi you are right but I will be very wrong and very broke if Cavs don't come through -- again worth stating these are the chalkiest odds LBJ has had to make a finals in his career with a team that perception wise is his worse -- Books fully expect him to win it all this year and I am happy to be on the books side

[vividjohn45]

Been saying this all year and totally agree - at the very least they have the best odds standing as they will guaranteed make the finals at which point you can hedge

Hows that? Gs will be a -250 fav to win final series.

[vividjohn45]

We do this almost every year....toronto is on the rise...toronta this...toronto that...and they lose. Everytime. The Cavs have absolutely zero competition in the east. None. Not even the heat or boston. Every year we have seen that lebron has regular season mode, and playoff mode. In playoff mode, his team wont be stopped in the east. Boston and the heat are good...but thats it. The cavs are much better than them. Yes the cavs have issues, yes lebron cries a lot, yadda yadda. But lets be real, the cavs are in the finals. Lebron led teams have been to the finals 6 times in a row....thats the only stat that matters.

Yah. East is ezier to see then west. Gs players really want the 73 wins. Id think beating 39-0 in s.a on b2b away games hadda used them up some. Hell they barely beat grizz 100-99. Nite b4. (saving gas for b2b) Nobody resting for playoffs.

[louielouie]

GS opened at -175 last year -- with a fully healthy Cavs they will be lucky to be -150 or better vs. them in the finals and regardless I think OKC, Clippers or Spurs represent the west

[stevenash]

What's all this talk about resting for the playoffs. There are 15 days slotted for all 4 rounds, teams that play on a Wednessay don't play again to Sunday, in the NHL playoffs they play 1 on, 1 off
NBA playoffs are a joke, Warriors get all the rest they need during the playoffs

[Git Lo]

What's all this talk about resting for the playoffs. There are 15 days slotted for all 4 rounds, teams that play on a Wednessay don't play again to Sunday, in the NHL playoffs they play 1 on, 1 off
NBA playoffs are a joke, Warriors get all the rest they need during the playoffs

Just injuries, these guys play at a high level and get injured left and right. They don't actually need rest because they are tired

[Skrilla777]

It's going to depend on how the playoffs play out and... injuries

[PorkChop]

Insane how people just totally dismiss Toronto, like Cleveland is some sort of super team that can't be beaten. What a joke. There are very few genuinely knowledgable people who can see a way that the Cav's can beat either Warriors or the Spurs 4 times in 7 games. Even worse chance as they are giving up home court.

Your public blind.

It's not about, 'oh Toronto can give Cleveland a run for there money on the court'. Nobody is arguing that.

Just a question for you, which do you think the NBA would prefer, DeMar Derozan and the Toronto Raptors against Golden State in their NBA finals or Lebron James against Golden State in the NBA Finals.

Which is the money maker? One a little more of a selling point than the other?

This isn't a game. This is a multi-billion dollar business. Dont understand why people refuse to see through this.

[rpesi9955]

NBA a business,True and like I've said before Warriors are one of if not the biggest markets in the world. It makes sense to the NBA that they keep Winning.

[Seto]

Your public blind.

It's not about, 'oh Toronto can give Cleveland a run for there money on the court'. Nobody is arguing that.

Just a question for you, which do you think the NBA would prefer, DeMar Derozan and the Toronto Raptors against Golden State in their NBA finals or Lebron James against Golden State in the NBA Finals.

Which is the money maker? One a little more of a selling point than the other?

This isn't a game. This is a multi-billion dollar business. Dont understand why people refuse to see through this.

So the NBA wanted Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks to play the Heat in the 2011 Finals instead of getting the dream Kobe/LeBron matchup?
The NBA wanted the Houston Rockets to face the Warriors last year rather than the Clippers to get a matchup of arguably the 2 teams that hate each other the most in today's NBA not to mention what most people saw as a more challenging opponent for the Warriors?
The NBA wanted the "boring" San Antonio Spurs to win 5 championships?
The NBA wanted a team like the Memphis fukking Grizzlies to make the conference finals a few years ago?

Can't wait for the "the NBA wants a game 7" threads too once series get to 3-2. Last year I think teams AT HOME in game 6's trying to force a game 7 went 0-5 or 0-6 or something.

Don't know why I'm even bothering with this though, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary guys will always believe in their stupid theories.

[rpesi9955]

So the NBA wanted Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks to play the Heat in the 2011 Finals instead of getting the dream Kobe/LeBron matchup?
The NBA wanted the Houston Rockets to face the Warriors last year rather than the Clippers to get a matchup of arguably the 2 teams that hate each other the most in today's NBA not to mention what most people saw as a more challenging opponent for the Warriors?
The NBA wanted the "boring" San Antonio Spurs to win 5 championships?
The NBA wanted a team like the Memphis fukking Grizzlies to make the conference finals a few years ago?

Can't wait for the "the NBA wants a game 7" threads too once series get to 3-2. Last year I think teams AT HOME in game 6's trying to force a game 7 went 0-5 or 0-6 or something.

Don't know why I'm even bothering with this though, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary guys will always believe in their stupid theories.

NBA is a business so it wouldn't surprise me if it was manipulated on the side of entertainment.

[SBRMAN23]

Sixers still have a shot right?

[rpesi9955]

Sixers still have a shot right?

No the lakers already took there spot.

[Ballerholic]

alright would you guys take the Cavs to win it all at +400 or Warriors not to win it all at +110

[jjgold]

Sprinkle some money on the clippers

[Manny0825]

So the NBA wanted Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks to play the Heat in the 2011 Finals instead of getting the dream Kobe/LeBron matchup?
The NBA wanted the Houston Rockets to face the Warriors last year rather than the Clippers to get a matchup of arguably the 2 teams that hate each other the most in today's NBA not to mention what most people saw as a more challenging opponent for the Warriors?
The NBA wanted the "boring" San Antonio Spurs to win 5 championships?
The NBA wanted a team like the Memphis fukking Grizzlies to make the conference finals a few years ago?

Can't wait for the "the NBA wants a game 7" threads too once series get to 3-2. Last year I think teams AT HOME in game 6's trying to force a game 7 went 0-5 or 0-6 or something.

Don't know why I'm even bothering with this though, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary guys will always believe in their stupid theories.

preach! I hate those conspiracy theories. Some people win and some lose. When people say stuff about conspiracies, i just think they lost a lot of bets and need someone to blame.

[louielouie]

ballerholic why cant yoy play both betz - thats what i did

[Seto]

preach! I hate those conspiracy theories. Some people win and some lose. When people say stuff about conspiracies, i just think they lost a lot of bets and need someone to blame.

[JayDr3am]

dont be silly.. golden state wins it all again.

[Ballerholic]

ballerholic why cant yoy play both betz - thats what i did

Because I'm thinking of putting a decent portion of my BR on it. I'm kind of leaning towards Warriors not to win as they'll have to go up against Clippers, Spurs/Thunder, and then Cavaliers. After a 73 win season that's going to be tough. Although it does seem destined for Lebron to bring the Trophy to Cleveland for the first time, there is a chance that could just happen next year