The NBA Finals begin Wednesday night, between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
In a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals, the Spurs enter the series as -200 favorites after upsetting the defending champion Oklahoma City in seven games in the Western Conference finals. For the Knicks, for the third consecutive time this postseason, they will face an opponent coming off of a seven-game series.
This is the first time that’s happened in NBA history.
Since trailing 2-1 to the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks are undefeated, having won 10 straight games all by double-digits. However, for the red-hot Knicks, the Spurs represent a major step-up in competition, and for the first time this postseason, the Knicks will not have home-court advantage in a series.
The Knicks’ path to the finals is certainly something to consider, as the Hawks, the beat-up 76ers and a fatigued Cavaliers team (coming off back-to-back seven-game series), all provided little resistance on the way to the Eastern Conference title. The domination the Knicks displayed, though, cannot be overlooked.
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While the third-seeded Knicks are somewhat of a surprise to be here, so are the Spurs, who this time last year were preparing to make the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, coming off of a 34-48 season.
Led by 22-year-old sensation Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs are looking to break tradition and do something very unusual, if not unprecedented: win it all in their superstar’s first trip to the playoffs.
Ultimately, in what should be a very exciting and competitive series, I like the Spurs to win in six games (+550). While the Knicks have not lost in a month, nobody they have faced compares to the team they’re about to see starting Wednesday.
In its 10-game winning streak, New York has been scorching from beyond the arc, shooting a blistering 43% during this run. Meanwhile, its opponents have shot just 29% combined from behind the 3-point line in the same stretch, and both numbers are likely to even out eventually.
San Antonio also has the best player in the series in Wembanyama, as well as home-court advantage. Those two factors, I think, will be too much for the underdog Knicks to overcome, and I like the +550 payout that comes with the Spurs winning this in six games.
PICK: Spurs (+550) to win NBA Finals in six games
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