BOSTON CELTICS
Odds to win Eastern Conference finals: -1300
Odds to win NBA championship: -160
Turns out all those regular season wins were good for something. Getting the overall No. 1 seed bought the Celtics two crippled opponents in the first two rounds. Miami without Jimmy Butler was a shell of the team that knocked out Boston a year ago, and Cleveland minus Jarrett Allen and (for the last two games) Donovan Mitchell were no match for the 64-win Celts. When (if?) Kristaps Porzingis returns could have a huge impact on the ECF finals vs. Indiana, because 38-year-old Al Horford is running on fumes as it is. Boston was the pre-season favorite to come out of the East, and is now four wins from getting a chance to win its first championship since the 2007-08 Pierce/Garnett/Allen juggernaut. A few questions: Will the Celtics stick with their ISO-rich offense, hunting out individual matchups, against better opponents? If they don’t get it done, would they even consider breaking up the Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown frontcourt tandem?
INDIANA PACERS
Odds to win Eastern Conference finals: +730
Odds to win NBA championship: +3100
Anyone see THAT coming? Between the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark and the Pacers in the ECF, these could be the best times in the heartland since Hoosiers in the 1950s. If the Pacers’ decisive Game 7 victory on the road at New York showed anything, it’s that Indy has more weapons than just Tyrese Halliburton. Six different Pacers scored in double figures as Indy pantsed the wounded Knicks at MSG. It’ll have to be all hands on deck against the Celtics, as Boston has a top-3 defense. Both are modern NBA teams, with centers who can shoot 3s. Myles Turner and Al Horford will no doubt be firing away, as will Kristaps Porzingis if he can return from injury. Two interesting side notes – Aaron Nesmith was drafted by the Celtics as a 3-point specialist but has transformed himself into a relentless defender. And it should be fun watching high-energy, undersized reserves T.J. McConnell and Payton Pritchard go at it.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Odds to win Western Conference finals: -150
Odds to win NBA championship: +290
They kept coming and coming, and in the end the Timberwolves had erased a huge Denver lead and earned a spot in the WCF. The exhausted Nuggets had zero answers for Minnesota’s size and long arms, setting up an intriguing conference final against Dallas. The Wolves’ defense is a nightmare. Anchored by Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, in two games in which they faced elimination, Minnesota held Denver and MVP Nikola Jokic to 160 points. Total. And they don’t need a huge game from emerging Top-5 player Anthony Edwards to get it done, either. Edwards had an off night in the clincher on Sunday, scoring just 16 after a poor first half. No worries. There was plenty of firepower to pick up the slack, despite Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns both being in foul trouble. Now, after being so bad for so long, the Wolves are knocking on the door and just eight wins from their first-ever title.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Odds to win Western Conference finals: -190
Odds to win NBA championship: +600
With two offense stars and a lot of filler, not many NBA watchers gave the Mavericks much of a shot at getting this far. But here they are, and you have to respect a team that comes from 17 points down and sends the No. 1 seed (OKC) home for the summer. Luka Doncic is Luca Doncic, but given Kyrie Irving’s track record, did anyone expect Irving to play in most of Dallas’s games, AND not cause trouble, after laying waste to the Cavaliers, Celtics and Nets franchises by being a general PITA. The new Irving has forced opponents to resort to funky defenses, like OKC which doubled both stars and left one defender trying to cover three others. Whether the Mavs have eight more wins in the tank is anyone’s guess. But consider where this team was only two years ago. After losing in the WCF, the team was rebuilt. Doncic stayed, but four other starters – Irving, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones – were brought in.