New York return to the conference finals for the second time in three years after breezing past Philadelphia in the second round. The series ended in a sweep, as Jalen Brunson found top gear to propel New York to an excellent offensive series. NY recorded an offensive rating of 120+ in three of the four wins and ended with a real bang, dropping a 172.9 offensive rating in Game 4 to record a 144-114 blowout win. Brunson finished the series with averages of 29.0 points and 6.0 steals per game on a clean 59.6% eFG%, and Mikal Bridges had a really impressive offensive series, averaging 17.5 points, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals to well and truly break out of his slump and step up in the place of the injured OG Anunoby. Karl-Anthony Towns’ scoring numbers were rather humble in this series, posting 15.5 points per game, but he was the key facilitator, with 7.5 assists per game, to go with 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in an excellent all-round series from the big man. He was able to minimise a laboured Joel Embiid, while Josh Hard and Miles McBride also enjoyed successful defensive series to give Philly no chance of prevailing.
Cleveland gutted out a 4-3 series win over Detroit to make their first conference finals since 2018. After winning a Game 7 in the first round against Toronto, Cleveland were forced to do it again in the second round, this time on the road where they were winless in the postseason heading into the game, but they quickly put any doubts aside. A 31-22 first quarter gave them a good start, but they really started to pull away in the second, with a 14-3 run making it a 45-29, and the visitors controlled the game from then on to waltz into the conference finals. It was a rather poor defensive series from Cleveland, up until the finale, allowing Detroit to crash the offensive glass and conceding a lot of fouls and free throw attempts. However, their offence often kept them in the fight, and while no one player had a standout series, their stars Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen all had their moments. The high point came in Game 4, where Mitchell dropped 39 points in the second half to level the series at 2-2, and he was Cleveland’s best offensive player in the series, wth 28.1 points and 3.6 assists per game. He and Harden both didn’t shoot particularly efficiently, but Allen was more reliable and he finished the series in style, with 23 points and seven rebounds in just 25 minutes. He and Mobley were on the receiving end of some great dimes from Harden and Mitchell, who were much more willing to facilitate in Game 7, and that may well lay the blueprint for more success in the postseason.
New York have won seven games on the trot and looked comfortable in every way in the second round. With Anunoby (hamstring, probable) likely back in the fold for this series opener, NY are going to be very hard to beat and his return spells trouble for Harden and Mitchell. Whoever is hot will be covered by the elite perimeter stopper that is Anunoby, and with Bridges and McBride also available for defence, that makes it a really hard matchup for Cleveland. Brunson is the clear liability on that end, but NY are going to be able to hide him on the likes of Dean Wade and Sam Merrill, and that’s going to see Cleveland be outmatched here. I expect Kenny Atkinson to make some adjustments along the way to pick up a couple of wins, but this series is New York’s to lose.
Series Bet
New York 4-2 ($5.50)