Author: Nick Parson
Published: 2025-05-05

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

DENVER vs. OKLAHOMA CITY

Game 1 – Thunder -9.5
Odds to win series – Thunder -700, Nuggets +500
Odds to win Western Conference – Thunder -210, Nuggets +1100
Odds to win NBA title – Thunder +130, Nuggets +3000

At first glance, this series looks like a mismatch. The Thunder are deep and talented, they have the presumptive MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they have young legs that are rested after a first-round sweep of the Grizzlies, and they are coming off a historic best-in-the-league 68-win regular season. The Nuggets counter with Nikola Jokic and a team that ended the regular season in so much angst that the head coach and general manager were both fired a week before the playoffs started. Can the Nuggets do to the ... MORE

Author: Nick Parsons
Published: 2025-05-02

INDIANA vs. CLEVELAND

Game 1 – Cavaliers -7.5
Odds to win series – Cavaliers -500, Pacers +375
Odds to win Eastern Conference – Cavaliers +160, Pacers +1800
Odds to win NBA title – Cavaliers +500, Pacers +5000

The NBA playoff business model has remained the same for decades – forget depth and depend of your stars tom play like stars. If they do, you’ll get to the next round. If not, well, at least you played the game the way it should be played. This series might be the exception, though. Cleveland and Indiana both have the requisite star power, to be sure, but ... MORE

Author: Nick Parson
Published: 2025-03-08

David Stern is widely credited with saving the NBA in the 1980s. Recreational drug use was common back then. the league was so disparaged by the fan base that The Finals were actually broadcast on tape delay.

The commish was then gifted with the arrival of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and (later) Michael Jordan, and took advantage by marketing stars over teams. The public bought in, and a few generations later the league is still thriving.

Adam Silver, Falk’s replacement, has been just as lucky. Silver must be pinching himself after the Midwest Mavericks decided that they were not going to babysit an out-of-shape Luka Doncic and sent him to the Lakers only eight months after Doncic had led them to the Finals.

So while the Mavs look at a ... MORE

Author: Nick Parsons
Published: 2025-03-07

David Stern is widely credited with saving the NBA in the 1980s. Recreational drug use was common back then. the league was so disparaged by the fan base that The Finals were actually broadcast on tape delay.

The commish was then gifted with the arrival of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and (later) Michael Jordan, and took advantage by marketing stars over teams. The public bought in, and a few generations later the league is still thriving.

Adam Silver, Falk’s replacement, has been just as lucky. Silver must be pinching himself after the Midwest Mavericks decided that they were not going to babysit an out-of-shape Luka Doncic and sent him to the Lakers only eight months after Doncic had led them to the Finals.

So while the Mavs ... MORE