NBA Conference Finals

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The NBA Conference Finals is set. We start on Tuesday with The Los Angeles Lakers Vs. The Denver Nuggets. When these teams met in the conference finals in the bubble in 2020, the Lakers won the series in just five games holding Denver to 109.2 points per contest. They may have to do even better this time as the Nuggets boast perhaps the best player on Earth, Nikola Jokic, winner of two of the past three NBA MVP awards. Thankfully for LA, they have maybe the greatest defender on Earth in Anthony Davis. In the 2020 championship run, Davis’ long arms altered countless shots and he’ll have to do the same here.

LeBron is still the King, but the Lakers’ best player is clearly now Davis, with his long wingspan and ability to affect the game at both ends of the court. He can check guards and block shots at the rim on defense and attack the paint with the ball. Undrafted wing Austin Reaves has been the team’s third-best player over the past several months and guards Dennis Schroder and D’Angelo Russell have provided important scoring pop. Everyone will need to be on their A-game if they’re to survive Jokic.

The Nuggets’ starting five are excellent. They have size, scoring, experience, endurance, and talent to win. So, let’s look at the team’s reserves specifically, the three players likely to come off the bench in any close game: versatile forward Jeff Green, slashing guard Bruce Brown Jr and promising rookie Christian Braun. Jokic is always No 1 when it comes to Denver but without great bench play while the starters rest, Denver will be heading home sooner than they hoped.

 In The East We have the Miami Heat Vs. The Boston Celtics. The Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 in Game 7 of their second-round series on Sunday to advance. The Celtics will have homecourt advantage this year as opposed to last year. The Heat were the No. 1 seed back then. They entered the postseason as the eighth seed and have made a fairytale run, having beaten the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in round one in five games and the No. 5 seeded New York Knicks in round two in six games.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat have relied on their depth to reach this point. The Celtics enter this series on the back of a six-game series win over the Atlanta Hawks and seven-game series win over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics are also deeper than the Miami Heat, who have received contributions from across the board. However, they have relied more on Jimmy Butler than ever. He has averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. With reliable role players like Al Horford, Malcolm Brogdon and Derrick White, the Celtics will likely come out on top against the resurgent Heat. Miami will need significant contributions consistently from players not named Jimmy Butler to have a shot at continuing their shocking run, especially with their third-best scorer, Tyler Herro, still sidelined.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat have surprisingly split their season series 2-2 this year. The Heat were nowhere close to the team they were a year ago. Boston will be able to put their sole focus on slowing down Jimmy Butler. Even if he’s able to get around 20-24 points per game, the Celtics are still in a great spot. Therefore, our Celtics vs. Heat Eastern Conference Finals prediction is for Boston to cover the -1.5 series spread with -185 odds

Headlines 🚨

On This Day in Sport History: 2022 MLB Pirates win 1-0 over Cincinnati Reds, despite getting no hits, in Pittsburgh.

The Grizzlies have suspended Ja Morant from all team activities after a video showing the star guard holding a gun began circulating on social media Saturday night.

In the aftermath of a blowout elimination loss in the Western Conference semifinals, the Phoenix Suns fired coach Monty Williams on Saturday night.

The Lakers started the season eight games under .500. Now they are four wins away from the NBA Finals.

Colorado Rockies pitcher Ryan Feltner has a skull fracture and concussion after getting hit by a line drive off Nick Castellanos.

Houston Astros outfielder Michael Brantley is expressing frustration with the setback in his return from surgery on his right shoulder.

The Houston Texans sign CB Shaquill Griffin to a 1-year deal.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts decided to add to his stellar year by earning a master's degree from The University of Oklahoma.

Former OK State center Moussa Cisse ESPN's No. 9 available player in the NCAA transfer portal, has committed to play at Ole Miss next season.

The Florida Panthers eliminated the Maple Leafs from the postseason with a 3-2 overtime win in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference second-round series Friday night.

Trends 📈📉 via Oddsshark

🏒 Kraken at Stars

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing Dallas

⚾️ Mets at Nationals

• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Mets's last 5 games on the road

• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Mets's last 5 games

• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 7 games at home

• Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing NY Mets

⚾️ Mariners at Red Sox

• The total has gone OVER in 10 of Seattle's last 11 games when playing on the road against Boston

• The total has gone OVER in 18 of Seattle's last 21 games when playing Boston

• Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Seattle

⚾️ Braves at Rangers

• Atlanta is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games on the road

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games when playing Texas

• Texas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Atlanta

• Texas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games

⚾️ Cubs at Astros

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chi Cubs's last 5 games

• The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Chi Cubs's last 11 games when playing on the road against Houston

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 5 games

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games at home

⚾️ Phillies at Giants

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 5 games when playing on the road against San Francisco

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 5 games when playing San Francisco

• San Francisco is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Philadelphia

⚾️ Twins at Dodgers

• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota's last 5 games when playing on the road against LA Dodgers

• Minnesota is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

• LA Dodgers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Minnesota

• LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games

Public Money 🤑 via VSiN at 9AMCT

⚾️ MLB

38% of bets and 61% of money is on OVER 9.5 NYM at WSH

30% of bets and 63% of money is on SEA -1.5 (+130)

37% of bets and 73% of money is on OVER 10 SEA at BOS

44% of bets and 65% of money is on MIL -1.5 (+145)

31% of bets and 54% of money is on CN -1.5 (+120)

50% of bets and 68% of money is on OVER 9 ARI at OAK

58% of bets and 83% of money is on OVER 9 PHI at SF

Future Odds 🔮 via Bovada Sportsbook

Picks 🔒

 Cubs +157 | Valdez heads into this one winless in 5 home starts this season despite some impressive overall numbers. The biggest problem has been run support, as the Astros have scored just 9 total runs in his 5 starts this season. Chicago is 16-5 in its last 21 series openers and is 23-8 in its last 31 interleague games against left-handed starting pitchers.

Nuggets -5 | Denver has been the favorite in 61 games this season and has come away with the win 43 times (70.5%) in those games. When it has played as a money line underdog with odds of +171 or longer, Los Angeles has gone 7-17 (29.2%).