NBA conference finals bold predictions: Anthony Edwards and KAT keep it going, Jayson Tatum heats up, more

The 2024 NBA conference finalists are set. We kick off Tuesday night with the East, where the top-seeded Boston Celtics will play host to the No. 6 Indiana Pacers. On Wednesday, the West gets started with the No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves hosting the No. 5 Dallas Mavericks. 

Parity abounds in the today’s league, where we will have a new champion for the sixth straight season. It feels like anything can happen, and to some degree already has. With that in mind, here are my five bold predictions for the conference finals. 

Edwards was probably too passive to start Game 7 against the Nuggets and he wound up out of rhythm for most of the night. It speaks to his unflappable confidence and poise that he ratcheted up the aggression in the second half and hit two huge 3s, one to end the third and one to put Minnesota up 10 late in the fourth. Those buckets were two of the most important shots of the game despite that lack of rhythm, but it’s not going to happen twice in a row. 

After Edwards was held to 15 in Game 5 against Phoenix, he went for 36 in Game 3. After he was held to 19 in Game 3 against Denver, he went for 44 in Game 4. After 16 in Game 7 on Sunday, the trend continues in Game 1 on Wednesday, which spells trouble for Dallas. 

Haliburton needs to be aggressive to score like he was in Game 7 at New York if the Pacers have any shot of even putting a scare into Boston. Unfortunately, the Celtics are loaded with elite perimeter defenders in position to make his life a living hell in the half-court, where the Pacers will be operating more than they’d prefer because they won’t be able to get consistent stops against Boston’s defense. 

One of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will be right there waiting. Indiana will try to get Haliburton switched onto Al Horford, but even Horford was able to make life tough on the perimeter for Darius Garland. Haliburton will see lines of defenders coming at him in this series. He’ll probably have a big game in there somewhere, but when it’s said and done his scoring…


Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-conference-finals-bold-predictions-anthony-edwards-and-kat-keep-it-going-jayson-tatum-heats-up-more/

Author : Brad Botkin

Publish date : 2024-05-20 21:01:10

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