Just like it was kind of expected things are turning out to be a pretty one-sided affair in the East and things are extremely competitive in the West.
The bookies were predicting an Oklahoma City sweep but instead the Spurs threw us for a loop by winning game 1. Since then the Thunders have won the next 2 straight with the last win looking very one-sided. Does San Antonio have what it takes to get through to the final? Well, bookies certainly don't think so
While they are only favored by a tiny bit at 2.5 points, the bookies are pretty certain that OKC has got this one in the bag and there are some reasons for that.
In game one, the Spurs hadn't played OKC in quite some time so in a way you could say that it was a fresh matchup. Victor Wenbanyama is a truly gifted player. He is one of the new wave of really tall dudes that isn't just a meaty center who stands there and waits for a short pass, nah. He can play anywhere and he does including being quite reliable on 3 pointers. It's pretty rare these days that we see centers like Shaq or Patrick Ewing that were heavy tanks that couldn't really make shots from anywhere except in the paint. I don't know how such a player would work out these days because the new lean centers that can play from the perimeter seem like the norm these days and Wenbanyama is a true weapon.
The thing is, it took OKC about a game to kind of figure him out and shut him down a bit.
Some doubters out there might try to say that this is incorrect on my part because the had 26 points in game 3 and to that I can only say that he had 41 points on the day they Spurs won and in SA's subsequent losses it did seem like they were struggling to find positioning for the big man and there were increased turnovers in what looked like trying to get the ball to him.
I could be wrong I guess but I think that is what is going on. The Spurs need to find a way to free "Wemmy" up or they are going to struggle.
On the other side of things the Knicks are kind of making the Cavs look a bit silly. As I type we are seconds away from the Knicks taking this to 3-0. While in game one the Knicks looked quite vulnerable when the Cleveland side went up by more than 20 points but then somehow the Cavs managed to lose that game. It was truly extraordinary and I believe the Cavs have been kind of demoralized since then.
The bookies are saying what they have always said and that is the the Thunder are going through and are going to win it all. I could be fun to put a couple of bucks on the Knicks to win, which some people out there will certainly do because those odds are likely paying 10X of more should the Knicks do something amazing.
We aren't in the final yet but I can all-but-guarantee that the most exciting games and the most competitive games are actually happening right now. The Cavs are mentally broken and are likely going home tomorrow at around 9pm.
San Antonio I suppose could figure something out but I believe that their offense is a bit too reliant on one person in order for that to happen. Of course there is always the chance of some sort of injury on both sides of the bracket that could really change a lot of things. The only team with real roster depth right now is OKC and they don't really need it.