Imagine an NBA Finals headlined by Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards.
Imagine an NBA Finals contested exclusively in Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
Imagine an NBA Finals with Jason Kidd coaching against Rick Carlisle.
Imagine an NBA Finals that pits Kyrie Irving against the Boston Celtics.
All of these possibilities are on the table now that the defending champions from Denver have been eliminated heading into this season's Final Four. And it is time for you have to have your say on how these NBA playoffs will play out from here in our annual Conference Finals Predictions Thread that invites everyone within The Stein Line community to convince us that they already know what will happen.
Results from Round 2 community predictions have been tallied up by longtime subscriber Deven P. and will be revealed later today for posterity when we publish the next Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza.
Here is my Eastern Conference Round 3 pick:
Celtics over Pacers in 6
Here is my Western Conference Round 3 pick (which is another way of saying I can’t really call it and anything can happen):
Timberwolves over Mavericks in 7
Make your own predictions in the thread below and I will lock the file at some point during Pacers at Celtics Game 1 tonight. Please don’t forget to include the number of games in each series and PLEASE list your first and last name so we can properly identify those who get their predictions exactly right.
Wolves in 6
Celtics in 6
Wolves in 6 & Celts in 5
Celts in 5; Mavs in 6
Pacers and Mavs in 6
Celtics in 6 T-Wolves in 7
Chris Schuette
Celtics in 5; T-Wolves in 7
Celtics in 4 (of course ;)
T-wolves in 6
Boston in 5
Minnesota in 5
James Madison
Jon Saur
Celtics in 5
Wolves in 5
Dan Hinrichs
Celtics, 6
Wolves, 5 (dodging Minnesota sports history lightning bolt)
Celtics in 5
Mavs in 5
#TalkSoon
As always, I'd prefer to see what these look like after one game, but that's not how these things work, so...
Wolves over Mavs in 7
Celtics over Pacers in 5.
(Celtics in 5 is starting to feel like the old Dubs in 6)
Boston over Indiana in 4. Time for the Celtics to rise up and start smiting opponents.
Timberwolves over Dallas in 6. Minnesota's defense is just a little more intense and dependable than Dallas' offense and in-game adjustments.
Barron Hall
Boston in 7
Dallas in 7
Boston in 6 (it should be 5 but they always drop some game inexplicably).
Wolves in 7
Boston in 5
Minnesota in 6 (ever the optimist)
J.G. Preston
Celts in 6
Mavs in 6
Celtics in 5
Mavs in 6
Celtics in 6.
Mavs in 7.
Celtics over Pacers in 5
Mavericks over Timberwolves in 7
Celtics in 7
Timberwolves in 6
Boston in 5
Dallas in 7
Celtics in 7
Macs in 6
Tom Scales
Timberwolves in 7
Pacers in 6
Mavs in 6
Celtics in 5
Pacers in 7
Wolves in 7
Pacers and Mavs in 6.
Celtics in 6
Wolves in 6
Celtics in 5
Wolves in 6
Boston over Indiana in 5 games
Minnesota over Dallas in 6 games
Celtics in 5
Mavs in 6
Celtics in 6
Wolves in 5
Celtics in 5 and Mavs in 6.
Celtics in 6, T-Wolves in 7.
Celtics in 6. Mavs in 6.
Celtics in 5
Wolves in 6
Celtics in 5; Wolves in 7
Pacers in 6, Wolves in 5
Celtics in 5, Mavs in 6
Celtics in 6, Wolves in 5
Celtics and Wolves both in 6.
Although I didn’t post here for some reason I called round two spot on. Which means as a mavs fan hopefully I’m wrong in the conference finals.
Celtics in 4. Wolves in 7.
Celtics in 5. Mavs in 7.
Celtics in 6. Wolves in 6.