All year long, the Phoenix Suns were on a mission to prove last year’s NBA Finals run was no fluke. While a 64-win season was enough to put the “fluke” talk to bed, Sunday’s calamitous showing in Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks won’t be forgotten any time soon. In fact, calling what the Suns did a “showing” at all is probably giving them too much credit. 온라인카지노
Thanks to the heroics of Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie, the Mavs are primed to make their first Western Conference Finals appearance since 2011. That year, Dallas upended the upstart Thunder on their way to the franchise’s first-ever NBA title. That Mavs team was a memorable one, with Dirk Nowitzki and an eclectic cast of role players going on to beat the LeBron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh Miami Heat in the Finals. Dallas’ path back to the Finals is a rough one, however. They’ll have to get past a Golden State Warriors team that will be making their first Western Conference Finals trip since 2019. Golden State has won three championships since 2015, though Steph Curry and company are out to prove they can still win it all without Kevin Durant in the mix.
NBA betting sites like Golden State to escape Dallas in this series. The Warriors are listed as -215 favorites to advance, while the Mavericks are +185 long shots. Additionally, Golden State is also favored to win the NBA Finals.
At this point, it’s fair to say Luka Doncic is the best player left in the playoffs. With one superstar playing the best basketball of his career and a cavalcade of helpful, veteran role players, the 2022 Mavs look eerily similar to the 2011 squad that won it all.
PLEASE NOTE:
The next team that keeps Doncic under wraps will be the first to do so in these playoffs. All the 23-year-old did to the reigning Western Conference champions was average 32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game while shooting better than 48 percent from the field.
Doncic refused to be denied on Sunday in Phoenix, finishing with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in just 30 minutes of action in the Mavs’ 123-90 demolition of the Suns.
Doncic is averaging nearly 33 points per game across 23 career playoff outings, which is the second-highest scoring average for any player in NBA postseason history.
Michael Jordan (33.4) is the only player in the history of the sport to average more points per game in his playoff career.
I’d say that’s some pretty heady company for the Mavs’ young superstar. The Warriors finished tied with the Celtics for the NBA’s best defensive rating during the regular season.
The expected absence of Gary Payton II – arguably Golden State’s top perimeter defender – won’t help the Warriors’ chances of limiting Luka, however. Andrew Wiggins may begin the series as the Dubs’ primary defender against Doncic, but we can expect Draymond Green and Klay Thompson to get their chances, as well.
Doncic averaged 31.5 points in four regular-season meetings against Golden State. His 126 total points against the Warriors were the most any player has scored against this team since Steve Kerr took over in 2014.
Battle-Tested Warriors
While Payton’s status for the series is up in the air, the Warriors are expecting Andre Iguodala to return at some point early in the series from a neck issue. 먹튀검증 사이트 추천
Iguodala is no longer in his prime, but he does give Kerr another long defender to throw at Doncic. Otto Porter Jr. is also set to return for Game 1 of the Dallas series after missing Games 5 and 6 against the Grizzlies with a sore foot. These Warriors may not be quite as dominant as the Durant-led teams we saw toward the end of the previous decade, but there’s still no shortage of firepower here.
Steph Curry averaged a healthy 26 points per game against the Grizzlies despite not shooting up to his lofty standards (41.8 percent from the field, 32.6 percent from three-point range).
Fortunately, Golden State has Thompson, Wiggins, and Jordan Poole here to pick up the slack if and when Curry struggles with his shooting stroke. Poole, a third-year guard from Michigan, has been a revelation this season.
After averaging a career-best 18.5 points per game during the season, Poole has upped his scoring average to 19.4 points per game during Golden State’s run to the conference finals. Interestingly enough, the Warriors lost three of their four regular-season meetings to the Mavs during the regular season. That includes defeats in both games in Dallas, as well as each of the final two matchups of the campaign.
The Mavs’ 110.5 defensive rating since January 1st is the fourth-best mark in the league. Given their massive defensive improvement and Golden State’s occasional issues with turnovers, the Mavs could give the Dubs some problems defensively in this matchup.
Who Will Win the Western Conference?
The Warriors are deserving favorites here. This team has more playoff experience than any of the four remaining squads in either conference. That said, Golden State did finish just one game ahead of Dallas in the regular-season standings.
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE FOR THE WARRIORS:
That means they’ll hold a home-court advantage if this series goes the distance.
It’s safe to assume the likes of Curry, Thompson, and Green won’t no-show the way the Suns did in Game 7 against the Mavericks. That said, it’s also fair to say oddsmakers are underrating Dallas a bit as +185 underdogs to win this series.
PLEASE NOTE:
Golden State had all sorts of issues stopping Doncic during the regular season. If he has the legs for it, he’s fully capable of winning this series by himself.
I like Dallas as a +185 value to get past Golden State and into the Finals for the first time in over a decade. The Warriors winning the series is probably the more likely outcome, but I can’t ignore the value in the Mavericks’ odds.
The Western Conference has ruled the NBA for the better part of two decades. Since Michael Jordan’s legendary run with the Chicago Bulls came to an end, most of the NBA’s dynasties have come out of the West. Teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors have dominated the league in recent years.
However, the tide finally seems to be turning. While the West still has a number of title contenders entering the 2022 playoffs, the overall depth of the conference lacks in comparison to the East for the first time in recent memory. The Eastern Conference playoffs are shaping up to be an epic war between a number of titans. The West, meanwhile, looks like the Phoenix Suns followed in a distant fashion by everybody else.
Of course, the Suns’ path to a second straight NBA Finals berth won’t be an easy one. Phoenix is favored in the latest NBA Western Conference odds, but we watch sports because nobody ever really knows what’s going to happen. The Suns didn’t face much adversity on their way to a Western Conference title a season ago, but every year is different.
Remarkably, just two of the franchises listed above have won an NBA championship in the last decade. The Warriors, of course, won three times between 2015 and 2018. The Spurs claimed the 2014 title, as well. Otherwise, we’ve got a bunch of teams looking to win it all for the first time in a very long time.
Phoenix Suns (+120)
It’s wild to see the Suns at a little better than even-money NBA Western Conference odds, but it’s hard to argue against it, either. Phoenix ran away with the best record in the NBA this season at 64-18. No other team in the league won more than 56 games.
UNDER MONTY WILLIAMS:
The Suns have become an absolute machine on both ends of the floor. 14 teams have won a championship the year after losing in the Finals.
It most recently occurred in 2017 when the Kevin Durant-led Warriors won it all on the heels of their 73-win year the season before. Some said the Suns’ run to last year’s Finals was fueled by fortune, but their 64-win season should have silenced those doubters long ago.
Chris Paul, who turns 37 in May, is largely responsible for the Suns’ turnaround over the past couple of years. Phoenix has won an NBA-best 74 percent of its games since Paul arrived prior to the 2020-21 campaign.
Utah ranks a distant second in that span with a winning percentage of about 65 percent. Assuming they stay healthy – which is a big “if” considering CP3’s unfortunate injury history – it’s hard to imagine anybody in the West having enough two-way firepower to oust the Suns.
This team has been on a mission all year long. Given the relative weakness of the rest of the West, the Suns’ +120 NBA Western Conference betting odds are still advantageous enough to be worth a wager.
Golden State Warriors (+415)
If any Western foe eventually knocks off the Suns, top NBA sportsbooks think the Warriors (+415) have the best chance. Golden State appeared primed to hang with Phoenix at the top of the standings early in the year, but injuries have ravaged the Dubs ever since.
The most important piece of the puzzle is Stephen Curry, who has been sidelined since the middle of March with a foot injury.
The Warriors say Curry could return in time for the Warriors’ first-round playoff series against the Nuggets, but his availability will go down to the wire ahead of Game 1 this weekend. Golden State went just 8-10 in the 18 games Curry missed this season, so his availability is rather important to the team’s chances of getting back to the top of the Western Conference.
KLAY THOMPSON AND DRAYMOND GREEN:
They are back from injuries of their own If Curry misses more time, Steve Kerr will have to lean more heavily on Jordan Poole to pick up the slack. Golden State’s Most Improved Player candidate averaged nearly 26 points and six assists per game in the games Curry sat out this year. While he’s a promising young player, the Warriors’ offense still isn’t nearly as dynamic with Curry off the floor.
When Steph returns and whether he plays up to his caliber when he does are two huge question marks looming over the Warriors entering the playoffs. If they’re healthy, they’re capable of giving Phoenix a legitimate run. Golden State is a fine value to advance to the Finals given their +415 Western Conference odds, but they’re not my favorite bet on the board, either.
Memphis Grizzlies (+475)
Now we’re talkin’.
The Grizzlies finished with the second-best record in the league at 56-26 on the year. This is in spite of the fact that Ja Morant, a legitimate MVP candidate, missed 25 games with a few injuries. However, Memphis went an incredible 20-5 in the games he missed. Not only is that a testament to the outstanding work of head coach Taylor Jenkins, but it’s a sign that the Grizzlies are arguably the NBA’s deepest team.
