2012-2013 NBA Power Rankings - Week 25
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For 14 NBA franchises, the 2012-13 season is over. For the other 16 teams, the "second season" will begin on Saturday.
The Miami Heat enter the postseason as the prohibitive favorites to repeat as champions. In fact, Sportsbook.ag has their odds to win it all set at 5/9.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are the next closest team with 11/2 odds.
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Each week, we respond to one roundtable question and here's this week's topic: Which teams meet in the NBA Finals and who wins (in how many games)?
John (follow on Twitter): Heat over Nuggets in six games
The most obvious choice here is a repeat of last year's NBA Finals matchup, the Heat and the Thunder, but I'm going to go another way.
Before Gallinari went down, I had thought that the Nuggets would come out of the West, and while his loss will certainly hurt, I think that they are deep enough to get there. The Spurs just have to beat too many athletic teams to win the West, and while OKC, Memphis, and the Clippers are all fine choices, they all have weaknesses as well.
Denver is virtually unbeatable at home, and they proved late in the year that they could win a meaningful game at OKC. I think that they can defend home court the whole way through the Western Conference playoff run, which means they will only need to steal one road game in each series.
The East is not even worth discussing, as the Heat should have no trouble getting to the Finals. The Knicks should be taken seriously, but they don't have enough to beat the Heat in a best-of-seven series.
Miami is just a step above the rest of the league. I'll take the Heat over the Nuggets in six.
Kevin (follow on Twitter): Heat over Thunder in four games
Not only have the Heat been the best team in basketball this season, but they have been nearly unbeatable in the second half. Since their win over the Raptors on February 3rd, the Heat have won 37 of 39 games.
As a Sixers fan, I clearly remember how dominate the Lakers were back in 2001 when they beat the Sixers in the NBA Finals in five games. During that postseason, the Lakers won 15 of 16 games as they cruised to the title. I wouldn't be surprised if the Heat make a similar run.
Not only did LeBron James average 26.8 points per game, fourth-best in the NBA, but he set career highs in rebounds (8.0 RPG) and assists (7.3 APG, tied for 10th in NBA). In addition, he posted career bests in field goal percentage (56.5) and three-point percentage (40.6).
While I hope for a close series and hope I'm wrong, I see the Heat cruising to their second straight title.
Dan (follow on Twitter): Heat over Thunder in five games
It has been quite an exciting NBA season, and who would have thought at the outset that the Clippers would be better than the Lakers?
This year's finals will be a rematch of last year's final between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder as the cream always rises to the top. The Heat will win in 5 games, as the Thunder just do not match up well against Miami.
To beat the Heat you need length and the ability to generate stops, as Miami has some of the best shooters in the game. It looks like this will be the continuation of what Heat haters fear the most "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5..."
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