SI.com Final Four predictions

[Moranis]

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/10/23/nba-finals-predictions-preview-cavaliers-warriors-spurs-lebron-james

Lee Jenkins - Cavs over Bulls, Thunder over Warriors - Cavs
Chris Mannix - Cavs over Bulls, Thunder over Warriors - Cavs
Ben Golliver - Cavs over Bulls, Spurs over Warriors - Spurs
Chris Ballard - Cavs over Bulls, Spurs over Warriors - Cavs
Rob Mahoney - Cavs over Bulls, Warriors over Thunder - Warriors
Matt Dollinger - Cavs over Raptors, Spurs over Thunder - Cavs
Deantae Prince - Cavs over Bulls, Warriors over Spurs - Warriors

So every single person picked the Cavs to win the East and all but one had them beating the Bulls in the ECF (interestingly enough the Raptors were the other team).  4 of the 7 had the Cavs winning the title.  Out west the Warriors appeared in 6 of the 7 WCF, but only 2 finals appearances both times projected to beat the Cavs again.  The Thunder and Spurs were the only other teams in the WCF, with the Spurs getting 3 title appearances (1 win) and the Thunder getting the other 2 title appearances (both losses).

[PhoSita]

Makes sense.  Until somebody actually beats Bron in the East the Cavs will be penciled in for the Finals every year.

There are 4 or 5 teams out West I could see making it to the Finals, and I actually think I'd be inclined to pick most if not all of them against the Cavs, unless perhaps the Cavs had home court advantage.  I don't think the Cavs will win enough games for that, though.

The Cavs have a ton of talent but I'm just not convinced they can be a team that scores with great efficiency and defends really well.  Last year, we saw two versions of that team -- a team with Kyrie and Love and Bron that was devastating on offense but blah on defense, and a grinding halfcourt team that beat opponents into submission and turned the game into a low scoring slog.


This feels like the year for the Thunder, to me, if they can finally get their three main guys healthy for a full playoff run.

[konkmv]

We trade crowder for george  sully for davis and godzeller for cousins.. downgrade i know but we manage to win the title by beating  the fakers 4-3 after we managed to stop superstar brandon bas in the finals

[hwangjini_1]

this is ridiculous!!! 

no team can stop brandon bass! 

[Big333223]

There are 5 legit teams in the West. Warriors, Spurs, Clippers, Thunder, and Rockets are all going to be monsters.

I think the Thunder are going to be unguardable this season they'll make the Finals against Cleveland. If Cleveland doesn't come out of the East, it'll be because some team is a huge surprise so I might as well say: if not Cleveland, it'll be Boston.