As we approach June, there are two champions about to be determined: 2011 NBA champion and 2011 Stanley Cup champion. Each sport is down to the conference finals, so there are only a handful of teams remaining (hence the reason I broaden my attention to include basketball since there are so few hockey games remaining).
Tonight, the NBA Eastern Conference championship is ready to begin with the mutli-time champion Chicago Bulls against the odds-on favorite Miami Heat. Under normal circumstances, I would expect Miami to win, but after the #1-seeded San Antonio Spurs were eliminated by #8 Memphis Grizzlies and defending NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers were upended by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, it would only be fitting to see Miami Heat eliminated in the conference finals. Regardless, I will let that upset upset me when (if) it happens. I expect the Miami Heat to win in 6 games or less.
Conversely, the Western Conference championship has not even been determined yet, although based on the way Oklahoma City Thunder performed in the Ford Center earlier this week, I am going to declare Memphis Grizzlies dead on arrival. This assumption would leave Dallas Mavericks against OKC Thunder. Since arriving to the heartland from Seattle, Thunder did not capture many sports headlines (even less attention) until they beat the LA Lakers in two of the six games, truly holding their own against the team that would eventually win last year's playoffs. This wanning success would be solidified if they had the honor of losing to Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
Unfortuantely, Dallas cannot be overlooked and they will have had plenty of rest since the series with LA to get enough wins to take the series (especially if Game 7 with the Grizzlies goes past regulation time). Admittedly, the Grizzlies are statistically just as likely to beat Thunder in Game 7, which would result with the team that eliminated San Antonio Spurs against the team that eliminated LA Lakers. Regardless, I am going to defy the odds and predict OKC Thunder will beat Dallas in 7 games.
Back on ice, the Boston Bruins are looking like a completely different team than they were when the third period ended in Game 2 of the first round to put the Montreal Canadiens up 2-0 in the series. If anything, the Canadiens taught Bruins how to be a winning team. Their series went into overtime in Game 7 and Boston Bruins.
However, my prediction for the Stanley Cup finals at the outset was Vancouver against Tampa Bay, so I am sticking with that prediction. I just hope Canucks have a relatively easy series against the Sharks, and if not, then I hope it is at least injury-free for the team.
