Western Conference Headline: The new faces of the league have arrived and will be here for a while. SGA and Anthony Edwards’ time is now.
Eastern Conference Headline: I Hate the New York Knicks. That is all.

Eastern Conference

(3) New York Knicks vs (4) Indiana Pacers
To elaborate on the above headline, I do not think this Knicks team deserves to be in the Conference Finals. They were outplayed by the Detroit Pistons in Q1 through Q3 of almost every game and were gifted one win with a no-call on the Hardaway Jr. three-pointer. Then, Boston plays its worst statistical back-to-back games in 8 years and New York won those two games by a combined 4 total points. Oh, and Boston’s best player tore his Achilles. So again in summation, I hate the New York Knicks. Clearly some bias may affect the prediction, but Tyrese Haliburton has been playing as good as any other player in this year’s playoffs and the overrated nonsense is just another motivating factor.
Prediction: Indiana Pacers 4-3

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs (6) Minnesota Timberwolves
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander versus Anthony Edwards feels like the future of the NBA. We have made it to the final four remaining teams and there is no LeBron, Steph, or KD. A changing of the guard is slowly occurring and this series represents that. OKC’s defense is the best unit of the four teams remaining. They play true team defense and have lockdown wing defenders in Lu Dort and Alex Caruso, the latter who proved he can guard one through five with his defense on Jokic, particularly in Game 7. On the other side of the court, Playoff Anthony Edwards is undeniable. Even if Shai wins MVP, AE will likely be the best player on the court in this series. At least he will have to be if the Timberwolves have any hope of advancing to the NBA Finals. Will they stall in the Conference Finals in back-to-back years?
Prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves 4-3