{"id":4890,"date":"2017-10-16T22:32:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T03:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=4890"},"modified":"2018-08-20T14:35:58","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T19:35:58","slug":"nba-preview-2017-2018-western-conference-finals-pick-gsw-okc-sas-or-hou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=4890","title":{"rendered":"NBA Preview 2017-2018; Western Conference Finals Pick….GSW, OKC, SAS, or HOU?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs-Photo: Ronald Cortes, USA Today-Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I take a look at it just\u00a0one night before the new NBA season begins, we could have a new champion crowned in 2018.\u00a0\u00a0No repeat for the current\u00a0title holder,\u00a0if one team comes together to challenge the 2017 winner,\u00a0the Golden State Warriors.\u00a0 As usual, injuries to any superstar can throw the balance of a division\u00a0 into disarray and allow the teams that have\u00a0enough talent to take the Larry O\u2019Brian Trophy.\u00a0 This is the year that it happens as the league has too many great players that have suffered injuries in the past and are susceptible to being cut down during the long season.\u00a0 Here are my favorites and the\u00a0suspects that will patriciate in the playoffs.<\/span><\/h6>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/h5>\n
Top Eight to make the playoffs in 2018<\/h5>\n
    \n
  1. Golden State\u00a0 64 wins<\/li>\n
  2. Oklahoma City 56 wins<\/li>\n
  3. San Antonio 55 wins<\/li>\n
  4. Minnesota 51 wins<\/li>\n
  5. Houston 50 wins<\/li>\n
  6. Portland 47 wins<\/li>\n
  7. Memphis 42 wins<\/li>\n
  8. Los Angeles C\u00a0 41 wins<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Western Conference Finals:\u00a0 Oklahoma City vs Golden State<\/h6>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Eastern Conference<\/h5>\n
    Top Eight to make the playoffs in 2018<\/h5>\n
      \n
    1. Cleveland 60 wins<\/li>\n
    2. Boston 59 wins<\/li>\n
    3. Washington 58 wins<\/li>\n
    4. Milwaukee 53 wins<\/li>\n
    5. Toronto\u00a048 wins<\/li>\n
    6. Miami\u00a047 wins<\/li>\n
    7. Philadelphia 44 wins<\/li>\n
    8. Detroit 41 wins<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Eastern Conference Finals:\u00a0 Cleveland vs Milwaukee<\/h6>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      NBA Finals:\u00a0 Oklahoma City vs Cleveland<\/h4>\n

      <\/h4>\n

      NBA Champions:\u00a0 Oklahoma City<\/h4>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      <\/h6>\n
      As I said, injuries will take their toll.\u00a0 Yes, I do believe that Golden State is the odds on favorite to win, but OKC, HOU, SAS, BOS, and CLE all have enough to do significant damage in the playoffs and you never know what could and can happen.<\/span><\/h6>\n
      <\/h5>\n
      Top Five Players in the Association:<\/h5>\n
        \n
      1. LeBron James<\/li>\n
      2. Russell Westbrook<\/li>\n
      3. Kevin Durant<\/li>\n
      4. Stephen Curry<\/li>\n
      5. Kawhi Leonard<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        MVP-LeBron James<\/h5>\n

        \u00a0<\/p>\n

        Coach of the Year-Tom Thibodeau<\/h5>\n

        \u00a0<\/p>\n

        Rookie of the Year-your guess is as good as mine\u2026.how about Ball of the Lakers?<\/h5>\n
        <\/h6>\n
        Feature Photo:\u00a0 Russell Westbrook\u00a0 (Nathaniel S. Butler\/NBAE\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/h6>\n

        <\/h2>\n

        \u00a0<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n

        <\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        \u00a0 As I take a look at it just\u00a0one night before the new NBA season…<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n

        <\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[285,287,288,326,58,293,1071,1175,53,54,311,1176],"class_list":["post-4890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-cleveland-cavs","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-houston-rockets","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-nba-preview","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-russell-westbrook","tag-stephen-curry","tag-tom-thibodeau"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":202,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4890"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4897,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890\/revisions\/4897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}