NBA Futures starting the home stretch
There remains to this day a sizeable contingent of Heat-haters.
They mostly exist among fans who yearn for the return of Michael Jordan, or Bird-Magic, and even a diminishing few who would prefer the Chamberlain/West Lakers or even the dominant Celtics of the 1960s.
To these folks, The LeBron Act is not an easy swallow.
They don’t like The Show, The Entourages, the loud in-your-face talent-rules/AAU-style NBA of 2012-13 that they are forced to watch.
Sorry, guys, but come mid-June, when Commissioner David Stern forks over the championship trophy for the final time before retiring in early 2014, it likely will be to James, to Dwyane Wade, and to the hard-to-stomach Chris Bosh. The Miami Heat. The team that the players themselves put together a few years back.
Oddsmakers pretty much feel that way, anyway. As the interminable regular season grinds toward its home stretch, they like the Heat to repeat.
Big time. Though the Heat have only the third-best record in the league (36-14; San Antonio and Oklahoma City are slightly better), Miami is a diamond-hard +110 to win it all again at Heritage Sports.
Similar numbers can be found just about everywhere else.
The numbers certainly reflect the fact that the Heat have the best player on the planet in his prime and – right now, anyway – every bit as dominant as MJ was in his heyday. But books are also aware that Miami is expected to have a much easier path to The Finals than will any of the other three teams (SA, OKC, LA Clippers) with a legit chance. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Fact is, no one in the East seems even remotely prepared to make it problematic for the Heat.
The Knicks (+1250) have the staying power of a Kim Kardashian marriage, the Celtics (+3400) will be cooked when their new uptempo style doesn’t catch teams by surprise, the Nets (+3800) are the Nets, and the league will never let the Pacers (+1900) get close to The Finals in Stern’s final full season of the job. Just the way it is.
In the West, books like the Thunder’s talent (Durant and Westbrook, mainly) to get things together and take out the Spurs. Throw the Clippers and either Denver or Memphis (each +3800) into the mix in the conference semifinals, and you have the makings of a battle royale.
While Miami is beating up on (fill in the blank) in the East, Western Conference powers will be grinding through what may be back-to-back 7-game series just to get to Miami in the championship series.
That gives the Heat, who might be getting a nice little 3- or 4-day rest before The Finals, a huge edge and explains why they are heavy favorites to win their second straight title.
