The Bum's Best Bets For Tuesday May 19th - MLB - NBA -NHL !

[StarDust Bum]

NBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 19


Houston Rockets @ Golden State Warriors

Game 501-502
May 19, 2015 @ 9:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Houston Rockets
127.249
Golden State Warr
132.833
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Golden State Warr
by 5 1/2
225
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Golden State Warr
by 10 1/2
219 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Houston Rockets
(+10 1/2); Over




NBA
Long Sheet

Tuesday, May 19

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HOUSTON (64 - 30) at GOLDEN STATE (75 - 17) - 5/19/2015, 9:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
GOLDEN STATE is 51-37 ATS (+10.3 Units) in all games this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 47-31 ATS (+12.9 Units) as a favorite this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 28-16 ATS (+10.4 Units) in home games this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 14-6 ATS (+7.4 Units) in a home game where the total is greater than or equal to 210 this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 31-17 ATS (+12.3 Units) after a win by 10 points or more this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 35-24 ATS (+8.6 Units) after scoring 105 points or more this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 28-19 ATS (+7.1 Units) after 3 or more consecutive wins this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 29-16 ATS (+11.4 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 62-47 ATS (+10.3 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
GOLDEN STATE is 49-33 ATS (+12.7 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
GOLDEN STATE is 30-18 ATS (+10.2 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 36-22 ATS (+11.8 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
HOUSTON is 55-38 ATS (+13.2 Units) in all games this season.
HOUSTON is 8-0 ATS (+8.0 Units) on Tuesday nights this season.
HOUSTON is 24-10 ATS (+13.0 Units) after a win by 10 points or more this season.
HOUSTON is 27-18 ATS (+7.2 Units) after scoring 105 points or more this season.
HOUSTON is 34-23 ATS (+8.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
HOUSTON is 23-13 ATS (+8.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
HOUSTON is 33-22 ATS (+8.8 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game this season.
HOUSTON is 24-15 ATS (+7.5 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 6-5 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
GOLDEN STATE is 6-5 straight up against HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
6 of 11 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA
Short Sheet

Tuesday, May 19


Western Conference - Finals - Best of 7 - Game 1

Houston Rockets at Golden State, 9:05 ET
Houston: 7-19 ATS in road games revenging 2 straight losses vs opponent of 10 points or more
Golden State: 28-16 ATS as a home favorite




NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Tuesday, May 19

Warriors are 4-0 vs Houston this year; NBA teams who went 4-0 vs an opponent during season are 55-6 in playoff series against that team in playoffs that year. Golden State's wins vs Houston this year were all by 11+ points; six of last nine series games went under the total. Rockets came back from 3-1 down to beat Clippers with Game 7 in Houston two days ago- Warriors' last game was on Friday. Six of last seven Rocket games went over total; six of last seven Golden State games stayed under.

Hawks won seven of last eight games with Cleveland, winning last five played here, all by 8+ points; six of last seven series tilts went over the total. Atlanta won its first two series in six games each- they're 5-1 in home playoff games. Cleveland is 8-2 in playoffs with six of last nine games staying under total. Cavaliers last played on Thursday, Hawks on Friday Cleveland won last three games by 2-5-21 points after falling behind 2-1 in Chicago series.




NBA

Tuesday, May 19

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Trend Report
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9:00 PM
HOUSTON vs. GOLDEN STATE
The total has gone OVER in 13 of Houston's last 19 games when playing on the road against Golden State
Houston is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games when playing Golden State
Golden State is 8-17 SU in its last 25 games when playing Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Golden State's last 9 games when playing Houston

[StarDust Bum]

NBA

Tuesday, May 19

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Game of the Day: Rockets at Warriors
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Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors (-10, 219)
Series tied 0-0

The Houston Rockets waged an epic comeback to reach the Western Conference finals but now must figure out how to compete with the host Golden State Warriors, beginning with Tuesday’s opener. Houston became the ninth team to really from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers in the semifinals but went 0-4 against the Warriors this season.

Second-seeded Houston looked like a team ready to call it a season when it trailed by 19 points with 14 minutes left in Game 6 but roared back to defeat Los Angeles and then outclassed the Clippers in the finale. “Ultimate confidence booster,” Rockets guard James Harden told reporters. “There are only a handful of teams that have done that. It gives us confidence.” Harden was the runner-up for NBA MVP honors behind Golden State guard Stephen Curry and both players will be under the microscope as they go head-to-head with an NBA Finals berth on the line. Top-seeded Golden State advanced to the conference finals with a six-game series win over Memphis, claiming the last three games after falling behind 2-1.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

LINE HISTORY: The Golden State -10 spread has held steady since opening, but the total has risen a half-point from 218.5 to 219 as of this writing.

INJURY REPORT: Houston - K. McDaniels (out indefinitely), D. Motiejunas (out for season), P. Beverley (out indefinitely). Golden State - O. Kuzmic (questionable), M. Speights (out Tuesday).

ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Harden averaged 25.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists versus Golden State during the regular season and he has scored 20 or more points in all 12 games this postseason with a high of 42. Houston received a surprise when playoff disappointment Josh Smith emerged to average 17 points in the final two games against the Clippers while small forward Trevor Ariza made six 3-pointers in the series finale for his second 22-point effort in three games. Center Dwight Howard has been superb in the postseason with six double-doubles in the series against Los Angeles and nine overall.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Curry averaged 25.8 points, 8.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds in the four regular-season games against Houston and is coming off a superb outing in the finale against the Grizzlies in which he made eight 3-pointers while contributing 32 points and 10 assists. He has five 30-point outings in the postseason and Golden State is hoping shooting guard Klay Thompson will regain his shooting stroke after his high point total was just 21 against Memphis. Forward Draymond Green is averaging 13.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists in the postseason, while center Andrew Bogut’s main job will be getting under the skin of the easy-to-frustrate Howard.

CONSENSUS: Per Consensus, 63 percent of users are backing the underdog Rockets.

[StarDust Bum]

NBA

Tuesday, May 19


Warriors owned the Rockets in the regular season

If the Houston Rockets are going to find any success in the Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors, they'll need to put the regular season in the rear-view mirror.

James Harden and company dropped all four of their meetings with the Warriors in the 2014-15 NBA campaign. The Rockets fell by a combined 61 points during those contests.

Books are offering the Warriors as 10-point home favorites with a total of 219.


LeBron James, Cleveland - Prob Wed

James tweaked his back in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals but is expected to play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Hawks.

[StarDust Bum]

Game 1 - Rockets at Warriors

May 18, 2015


The Western Conference Finals beginTuesday from Oracle Arena as No. 1 Golden State meets No. 2 Houston in a best-of-seven series. Even though this matchup pits the top two teams in the West against one another, not many could’ve expected this pair reaching the conference finals at the beginning of the season.

In early October veteran oddsmaker Jay Kornegay and his staff at the Westgate Las Vegas has Golden State and Houston both listed as 12/1 betting choices to win the West, behind the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers.

The Rockets haven’t played in the conference finals since 1997 while the Warriors haven’t made a trip since 1976, the same year they also claimed the franchise’s only NBA Finals championship.

While the pair were once considered equals nearly seven months ago, the same cannot be said now. Golden State has been installed as a minus-750 series favorite (Bet $100 to win $13) at Sportsbook.ag with Houston listed at plus-550 underdog. (Bet $100 to win $550).

For Game 1, the Warriors are 10-point favorites at most betting shops and VegasInsider.com NBA expert Tony Mejia isn’t surprised by the number.

He said, “It wasn’t a shock to see that oddsmakers went ahead and placed the Game 1 point spread at double-digits, a sure slap in the face to the Rockets, but circumstances dictate that they should protect themselves against a potential blowout. For starters, think about how Houston started its last series, faltering at home against the Chris Paul-less Clippers. The Rockets ended up winning in seven games, but as a result of becoming the ninth team in NBA history to erase a 3-1 playoff series deficit, they had to turn right around and start focusing on Golden State, which includes traveling the few hours into Oakland after prevailing on Sunday afternoon. That’s a short turnaround for a team that had such little success in their four regular-season meetings against the Warriors, losing every time by at least 11 points.”

Playing on one day rest won’t be easy for Houston but it did go 33-14 under these circumstances during the regular season and 5-4 in the playoffs. Golden State hasn’t played since Friday when it eliminated Memphis in Game 6 on the road. The Warriors will have had three full days of rest for Game 1 and they’ve gone 6-1 both straight up and against the spread this season with that long of a break.

It’s rare to see this big of a favorite in the conference finals but it’s hard to argue the number, especially when you look at the recent head-to-head history.

Golden State hammered Houston four time this season, winning and covering each contest while averaging 115 points per game. The last two encounters took place in mid-January and Golden State posted 131 and 126 points versus Houston. While those offensive efforts were tremendous, Mejia isn’t putting as much stock into the head-to-head meetings as others.

He explained, “The Rockets come into the series telling themselves that things are much different than the last time they saw Golden State, since Josh Smith had just arrived in late December and only played a combined 31 minutes in his team’s two January losses. Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas were in the starting lineup for both January encounters, while James Harden shot 13-for-33 in those games.”

“The games that were contested in 2014 can also be thrown out since Dwight Howard wasn’t 100 percent and guys like Tarik Black (Lakers) and Isaiah Canaan (76ers) started before being moved off the roster. In the present, Howard’s ability to control the paint, Jason Terry’s ability to continue playing strong defense in the team concept and hanging around in the rebounding battle loom as major points of emphasis. Howard squaring off with Andrew Bogut should be huge, as both will need to avoid foul trouble to serve as their team’s primary rim protector. Both are physical and prone to extra-curricular activity, so it will be interesting to see how they handle the bad blood sure to develop over the course of a series.”

Another Houston player that didn’t face the Warriors this season was forward Terrance Jones, who is finally healthy and another weapon on Houston’s deep bench that has experience. Will Rockets head coach Kevin McHale be able to use that postseason experience to his advantage or does Golden State’s talent win out.

Mejia answered, “The Warriors have a statement to make early, which puts the pressure squarely on their shoulders as they look to make the top homecourt advantage in the NBA hold up. Counting the playoffs, Golden State is 43-3 this season at ORACLE Arena, so dropping either of the first two games would really complicate matters, not only in terms of momentum, but also confidence. While the Rockets’ mantra is rightfully all about what transpired in the regular-season not mattering, the Warriors want to increase their aura of invincibility before visiting Houston.”

“Draymond Green will be the top defensive power forward that Terrence Jones and Smith will face, a key since they often created mismatches against the Clippers and Mavericks. Splash brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will have to deal with gifted perimeter defenders Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer, but get a reprieve facing Harden and Terry, who could struggle against guys who move around so much, especially since larger wings Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala may occupy Trevor Ariza's and Corey Brewer's attention due to the damage they can do taking the ball into the paint. Conversely, Thompson is likely to draw Harden quite a bit and must continue to hold up as one of the NBA's top two-way players.”

Curry and Thompson averaged a combined 47.3 points per game in the four regular season meetings against Golden State while Harden countered the pair with 25.3 PPG.

As Mejia mentioned, Golden State has gone 43-3 at home and it has produced a solid 28-17-1 against the spread record for bettors. In the playoffs, the number has dropped off to 4-1 SU and 2-3 ATS.

Including the postseason, the Warriors have been installed as double-digit home favorites 32 times this season. The club has gone 30-2 SU and 17-14-1 ATS during this span. One of the two losses came in the postseason, which occurred in Game 2 of the conference semifinals to Memphis, 97-90.

Houston has been a very respectable road team, going 28-17 SU and 23-22 ATS this season. Bettors should make a note the point-spread has only matter once to Houston in the playoffs when they beat the Clippers 115-109 in Game 2 but failed to cover as a 7 ½-point favorite. In the other 11 playoff games, Houston won and covered easily or was blown out by double digits, which happened in all four losses.

It’s been two years since the Rockets have been listed as double-digit underdogs. Coincidentally it happened in the postseason, when Houston was facing Oklahoma City in the first round of the 2013 playoffs.

The Warriors are a 1/7 money-line favorite (Bet $100 to win $14) to win Game 1 while bettors can take a chance with the Rockets at 5/1 odds (Bet $100 to win $500) to steal the opener.

A lot of pundits, including myself believe the Warriors will sweep this series and you can wager on that prediction at Sportsbook.ag.

A 4-0 win for Golden State returns 9/5 while the same result by Houston would net you 150/1 odds, a task most would deem impossible. Since 1971 there have only been nine sweeps in the West Finals, the last instance coming in 2013. During the same span, we’ve seen eight Game 7’s in this conference finals, the last coming in 2002 when David Stern allegedly made the “call” for the Los Angeles Lakers to best the Sacramento Kings.

Total players are starting at a number between 219 and 220 for the opener. During the regular season, total ranged from 204 ½ to 219 and the ‘over/under’ went 2-2 in those games.

Houston has been a clear-cut ‘over’ team in the playoffs, going 9-3 in its first 12 games. Ironically, the ‘under’ tickets occurred when the Rockets played their best defense, which is something they’re not known for despite having Howard in the middle.

Golden State has been the complete opposite of Houston, posting a 7-2-1 mark to the ‘under’ in the playoffs. The Warriors potent offense steals all the headlines in the Bay Area but this is arguably the best defense in the NBA, especially this postseason.

As many bettors have learned, playing the ‘under’ in Houston games is a very dicey situation with the inordinate amount of 3-point and free throw attempts it takes. The Rockets are allowing 111.5 PPG in the playoffs and they’re facing an offense that scores in bunches. When you combine all those facts, it’s hard to argue against the ‘over’ in their games.

Warriors backup forward Marreese Speights (calf) missed the final three games of the Memphis series and has been ruled ‘out’ for Game 1. He averaged just over 11 PPG versus the Rockets in the regular season.

Tip-off for Tuesday’s contest starts at 9:00 p.m. ET with ESPN providing national coverage.

Game 2 will take place on Thursday from Oracle Arena.

[StarDust Bum]

Conference finals breakdown

May 19, 2015

After a rollercoaster ride filled with buzzer-beaters, collapses and quite frankly, a lot of ugly basketball, the top two seeds in the East and West have reached the Conference finals.

Despite the results going to form, there’s new blood to get enthused about since top-seeds Golden State and Atlanta haven’t had this level of success in decades.

Actually, in the Hawks case, they’re deeper than they’ve been since 1970 after just coming to town from St. Louis two years prior. Cleveland reached the Finals for the only time in ’07, while the Rockets, owners of the most championships among this final four, haven’t won in 20 years.

As far as experience winning at this level goes, Cleveland definitely has an edge. LeBron James, Shawn Marion, Kendrick Perkins, James Jones and Mike Miller have all won championships.

Jason Terry and Trevor Ariza have won titles, playing essential roles like the ones they’re playing with the Rockets and should provide veteran leadership. Dwight Howard played for a title in Orlando back in 2009 and doesn’t shy away from higher stakes.

Compared to their competition, the top-seeds are woefully short on championship experience. There isn’t a single member on either roster that has won a title, although both head coaches, Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer, have earned rings with the Spurs. Player-wise, Atlanta has Paul Millsap, who reached the West finals as a rookie in Utah, as well as the injured Thabo Sefolosha will be Atlanta's listening posts.

Meanwhile, the Warriors are in the tenuous position of relying on Leandro Barbosa to play mentor since reaching a conference finals with Phoenix qualifies him as Golden State’s elder statesman in terms of postseason experience.

The head coaches of all four teams are in uncharted waters. Cleveland's David Blatt and GS' Kerr are rookies, Budenholzer is in his second season and Houston's Kevin McHale obviously has rings as a player, but hadn't gotten out of the first round until this season despite over 400 career games on the bench.

On the floor, there isn't a whole lot to take away from what went down during the regular season. The first two Hawks-Cavs games were blowouts, another didn't feature LeBron and the most recent and relevant on March 6 produced a 106-97 result that will be scrutinized by both teams and coaching staffs between now and Wednesday's Game 1s.

All four regular-season meetings between the Warriors and Rockets produced double-digit Golden State wins. Therefore, it is no surprise that oddsmakers installed GSW as a 10-point favorite at home for Game 1, but no one should get caught up believing that what transpired thus far will carry over to this series. For historical reference, the last team that won a postseason series after being swept in the regular season were last year's champion Spurs, which turned the tables on Oklahoma City.

There is however, certainly a rallying cry from the Warriors perspective, not that the carrot of reaching the NBA Finals isn’t enough. Still, to be denied by James Harden, who opined back in January that the team that had the best record in basketball most of the season, “ain’t that good,” would be particularly grating for Golden State. Expect no mercy.

Splash brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will have to deal with gifted perimeter defenders Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer, but get a reprieve facing Harden and Terry, who could struggle against guys who move around so much, especially since larger wings Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala may occupy Ariza's and Brewer's attention due to the damage they can do taking the ball into the paint.

Conversely, Thompson is likely to draw Harden quite a bit and must continue to hold up as one of the NBA's top two-way players.

Howard could have an edge against Andrew Bogut, but often gets frustrated by physical 7-footers, so monitoring extra-curricular will be a must here. With Festus Ezeli as Bogut's primary backup, it's imperative he stay out of foul trouble in what should be a telling match up between 7-foot former No. 1 picks.

In the ECF, DeMarre Carroll's defense on James is likely to be a major factor, although Millsap will likely also try and take on some of that burden. Look for a key variable to be Millsap's 3-point shooting, since the Cavs are likely to let him shoot away from beyond the arc while keying on Kyle Korver.

Kyrie Irving will give it a shot in Game 1, so a critical x-factor in this series will be not only his availability, but his mobility if he does get out there. Chicago made it a point to take advantage of his injuries, targeting him on pick-and-rolls and often driving right by him. Both Hawks point guards, Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder, are capable of taking advantage if he's limited.

Ultimately, I see both of these series ending in six games since the four teams are too dynamic and effective to be steam-rolled. Favorites Golden State and Cleveland would sure make for the most attractive NBA Finals. Fortunately, I believe that is where we're headed.

[StarDust Bum]

Conference Final Odds

Betting Odds provided by Sportsbook.ag

Home Team listed first - Best of 7 Games (2-2-1-1-1)
(Opening Odds in parentheses)

Eastern Conference Finals

Atlanta vs. Cleveland
Hawks (+195)
Cavaliers (-230)

Western Conference Finals

Golden State vs. Houston
Warriors (-850)
Rockets (+600)

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 19


Chicago Blackhawks @ Anaheim Ducks

Game 57-58
May 19, 2015 @ 9:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Chicago *********
12.981
Anaheim Ducks
11.885
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago *********
by 1
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Anaheim Ducks
-130
5
Dunkel Pick:
Chicago *********
(+110); Over




NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Tuesday, May 19

Anaheim is 9-1 in playoffs this spring, losing one game in Calgary (4-0 at home)- over is 5-2-1 in last eight games. Chicago won four of last six games with Anaheim, winning three of last four games in this building; the road team won six of last eight series games- under is 8-2-1 in last 11 series games. Ducks Blackhawks won five of last six games they allowed four goals in Game 1, after they allowed seven goals in 4-game sweep of Minnesota; over is 7-2-2 in their last 11 games. Ducks blocked 22 shots in Game 1, a physical game where Anaheim outhit Chicago 44-34.

2015 NHL playoffs
Tampa Bay vs NY Rangers
NYR 2-1, -$143, U5
TB 6-2, +$128, O5

Chicago vs Anaheim
Ana 4-1, -$135, N5




NHL

Tuesday, May 19

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Trend Report
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9:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. ANAHEIM
Chicago is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Chicago is 7-16-2 SU in its last 25 games ,when playing on the road against Anaheim
Anaheim is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games
Anaheim is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Long Sheet

Tuesday, May 19

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CHICAGO (56-31-0-6, 118 pts.) at ANAHEIM (60-24-0-8, 128 pts.) - 5/19/2015, 9:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 60-55 ATS (-27.2 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 60-32 ATS (+18.7 Units) in all games this season.
ANAHEIM is 15-1 ATS (+13.5 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
ANAHEIM is 36-17 ATS (+6.6 Units) second half of the season this season.
ANAHEIM is 19-5 ATS (+11.0 Units) in home games when leading in a playoff series since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 37-15 ATS (+16.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 25-8 ATS (+12.3 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
ANAHEIM is 26-7 ATS (+13.3 Units) in home games after a 3 game unbeaten streak over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 34-18 ATS (+5.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ANAHEIM is 225-206 ATS (+471.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
CHICAGO is 33-16 ATS (+10.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 6-4 (+3.1 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 6-4-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+4.7 Units)

[StarDust Bum]

NHL

Tuesday, May 19

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Blackhawks at Ducks: What bettors need to know
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Chicago Blackhawks at Anaheim Ducks (-130, 5)

The Chicago Blackhawks attempt to wrestle home-ice advantage away from the host Anaheim Ducks and even the Western Conference final at one win apiece when they visit Honda Center for Game 2 on Tuesday. Chicago, which had been idle since completing a sweep of Minnesota in the conference semifinals on May 7, stormed out of the gate in the series opener and outshot Anaheim 16-7 in the first period but trailed 1-0 at intermission.

The Blackhawks went on to suffer a 4-1 loss, with former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards scoring the lone goal off a turnover late in the middle session. Jakob Silfverberg, Nate Thompson and defenseman Hampus Lindholm each recorded a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who improved to 9-1 this postseason. Corey Perry was kept off the scoresheet, remaining at 15 points as he was overtaken by Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson for the playoff scoring lead. Anaheim Anaheim owns a 6-0 record at home this postseason and a 5-0 mark when netting the game's first goal.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA

LINE HISTORY: The Ducks opened -133 and are now -130. The total opened at 5.

INJURY REPORT: Blackhawks - D Michal Rozsival (Out, ankle). Ducks - D Sheldon Souray (Out, wrist).

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS: Anaheim did a great job keeping Patrick Kane at bay, limiting the superstar to zero points and just one shot on goal. The 26-year-old had his five-game goal-scoring streak halted and also saw his seven-game point run come to an end as he was blanked for just the second time in 11 contests this postseason. Kane understands he and his teammates must perform better if they wish to accomplish their goal before the series shifts to the Windy City. "We still have a chance to come here and do what we want to do and take one from them and try to get home ice back in our favor," he said. "We have to come ready to play. I think we have a little bit of a better effort to offer, too."

ABOUT THE DUCKS: Silfverberg's two-point performance in Game 1 was his third in a row and gave him a total of 13 points this postseason - tying him for fourth in the league with Kane and Ducks teammate Ryan Getzlaf, who recorded an assist Sunday. Anaheim received two tallies from its third line in the opener as Kyle Palmieri gave it a 2-0 lead early in the second period and Thompson scored with less than eight minutes remaining in the third to make it 3-1. "We can contribute and take some pressure off guys like (Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan Kesler and Matt) Beleskey, those guys that kind of been running the ship for us offensively," Thompson said. "Whenever we can contribute and help out the team, it definitely bodes well."

TRENDS:

* Road team is 4-1 in the last five meetings.
* Under is 20-6-1 in the last 27 meetings.
* Ducks are 4-0 in their last four Conference Finals games.
* Over is 6-0-1 in Blackhawks last seven Conference Finals games.

CONSENSUS: According to Consensus, 51 percent of bettors are backing the Ducks.

[StarDust Bum]

Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily Picks: Can Ducks stay perfect at home?


Chicago Blackhawks at Anaheim Ducks, 9 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Game 2
Ducks lead series 1-0

After a Game 1 victory, the Ducks are now 6-0 on home ice during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Honda Center has been fortress-like for the Ducks in recent years, but particularly so in this postseason.

Despite the win, head coach Bruce Boudreau wasn't enamored with how his team played in the series opener. Anaheim survived the first period, but barely, as the Blackhawks poured shots on the Ducks' net with relative ease. If not for Frederik Andersen's stellar play, it could have been a different result. But he did have a stellar game and the Ducks took an early series lead with a chance to really put the Blackhawks on their heels in Game 2.

It won't be easy as the Blackhawks have yet to lose back-to-back games in these playoffs. Chicago has to be feeling the pressure against a team that's put together like Anaheim. The physical nature of their style and the depth of scoring talent is going to pose a problem if Chicago gets into a 0-2 hole. The Blackhawks have some other problems within their own lineup to worry about, too.

Chicago's defensive woes in the last game need to be cleaned up, but that's easier said than done. Though not confirmed yet, it would appear that David Rundblad will be replaced by Kyle Cumiskey as the No. 5 defenseman for Game 2. Rundblad had a pretty poor start to the game as he played a role in each of the Ducks' first two goals of the game. Cumiskey is a journeyman who skates well can move the puck, but he only appeared in seven games with the Blackhawks this season. If he does get in the lineup, Cumiskey probably won't play a whole lot.

The Ducks want to punish the Blackhawks' shallow defense and they supplied a lot of pressure on the forecheck in Game 1. Wearing down the likes of Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, who had to play big, tough minutes in Game 1 is not easy to do, but the way Anaheim plays makes it possible.

The pressure is on, but this is hardly surprising to the Blackhawks. They knew coming into this series that it was going to be a battle and that the Ducks were the best team they have faced yet this postseason. Perhaps Chicago can draw a little inspiration from the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were held to one goal in Game 1 only to explode for six in Game 2 against the New York Rangers in the other conference final. The Blackhawks certainly have the personnel to do something like that.

Game 2 will tell us a lot about the series. It could prove that Honda Center is a place where opponents' hopes go to die. It could further prove that the Blackhawks will have a hard time surviving with its defense in the shape it is in currently. Or it could just be another instance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs where everything we thought we knew about these two teams gets thrown out the window.

If we're sticking with what we know, the Ducks have an advantage playing at home.

Pick: Ducks 3, Blackhawks 2

Three Stars
1. Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks: After being held off the scoresheet in Game 1, the Ducks top line should be buzzing in Game 2. Head coach Bruce Boudreau noted that Getzlaf's trio including Corey Perry and Patrick Maroon didn't have their most effective game. Getzlaf is always a threat though. He's tied for second on the team with 13 points including 11 assists. If the Ducks continue getting favorable matchups for him, the points will come.

2. Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks: Andersen has been unbeatable on home ice, so the Blackhawks are really going to have to push if they want to even the series. In Andersen's six starts at home this postseason, the Danish netminder has a 6-0 record and a .957 save percentage. He's allowed just seven goals so far at home in the playoffs. It's going to take a special effort for Chicago to break through.

3. Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks: Hossa has just one goal this postseason, but it's hard not to notice the impact he has in every game. Still probably the best defensive wing in all of hockey, Hossa remains an effective presence at 36 years old. In tight checking games like the one the Blackhawks and Ducks are sure to play, players like Hossa only become more valuable and more effective.

[StarDust Bum]

2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference finals TV schedule

It's down to the final four in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The conference finals are set to begin Saturday, May 16, as the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning square off in the Eastern Conference Final, while the Anaheim Ducks will meet the Chicago Blackhawks in the West.

Here is the complete schedule and TV listings for the conference finals.

New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning



EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
GAME DATE/SERIES LOCATION TIME NATIONAL TV

Game 1: Rangers 2, Lightning 1 New York leads 1-0 New York 1 p.m. ET NBC

Game 2 Monday, May 18 New York 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 3 Wednesday, May 20 Tampa Bay 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 4 Friday, May 22 Tampa Bay 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 5 (if necessary) Sunday, May 24 New York 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 6 (if necessary) Tuesday, May 26 Tampa Bay 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 7 (if necessary) Friday, May 29 New York 8 p.m. Et NBCSN
Anaheim Ducks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

GAME DATE/SERIES LOCATION TIME NATIONAL TV

Game 1: Ducks 4, Blackhawks 1 Anaheim leads series 1-0 Anaheim 3 p.m. ET NBC

Game 2 Tuesday, May 19 Anaheim 9 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 3 Thursday, May 21 Chicago 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 4 Saturday, May 23 Chicago 8 p.m. ET NBC

Game 5 (if necessary) Monday, May 25 Anaheim 9 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 6 (if necessary) Wednesday, May 27 Chicago 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

Game 7 (if necessary) Saturday, May 30 Anaheim 8 p.m. ET NBCSN

[StarDust Bum]

Western Conference Finals Preview: Warriors vs. Rockets

OAKLAND -- Success breeds confidence. Confidence breeds success. It's an engine, and both the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors have good reason to feel their engines are ready headed into the Western Conference Finals which begin Tuesday at Oracle Arena.

The two teams had surprisingly good regular seasons, finishing 1 and 2 in the brutal Western Conference. The Warriors overcame constantly rising expectations while the Rockets overcame significant injuries to win the toughest division in basketball. Golden State responded from a 2-1 deficit vs. the tough, physical Memphis Grizzlies to win in emphatic fashion. The Rockets overcame a 3-1 deficit to the Los Angeles Clippers to win three straight and advance here.

On Monday, a cool but confident Warriors team had their eyes on the prize, unwilling to engage in trash talk before a series that will have a lot of bad blood gets started. What about earlier this season when the Rockets said the Warriors weren't "even that good," according to James Harden? "That was the regular season. Totally different in the playoffs," Shaun Livingston said. What about Dwight Howard's elbows that go high?" "Happens in basketball, in the playoffs," Andrew Bogut said.

What about the trash talk that will inevitably happen in this series?

"Nobody's going out there with the intention of talking trash, but if somebody gets out of line, I'm sure it'll spark up," said Draymond Green with a grin.

These two teams met four times in the regular season, and those results are painful memories for Houston. The Warriors swept them in emphatic fashion, giving Warriors fans endless ammunition in their MVP arguments for Steph Curry over James Harden. But Warriors coach Steve Kerr dismissed the notion of the Warriors coming in over-confident despite their having every reason to be.

"I can't imagine we're going to be over-confident in the conference Finals," Kerr said, noting how different this Rockets team is from the one the Warriors thrashed, repeatedly, through the winter.

And there are changes. Pablo Prigioni is new to the team, a player Shaun Livingston said preys on your lack of focus, as he did vs. the Clippers in Game 7. Josh Smith had been with the team less than a month, and hadn't settled in yet, as Green noted. These aren't those Rockets.... but these aren't those Warriors either.

"I think how we responded vs. Memphis was huge for us," Steve Kerr said, and he's right. It's one thing to be confident when everything's going well. It's another when you learn what the edge of playoff oblivion looks like and fight your way off the cliff.

Both of these teams have learned it. It's made them strong. It's made them confident. It's made them ready. And with the NBA Finals four wins away, we're about to find out which team has the horsepower to get to the finish line. The Western Conference Finals begin Tuesday in Oakland.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
GAME DATE/SERIES LOCATION TIME TV

Game 1: Houston at Golden State Tue. May 19 Oracle Arena 9 p.m. ESPN

Game 2: Houston at Golden State Thu. May 21 Oracle Arena 9 p.m. ESPN

Game 3: Golden State at Houston Sat. May 23 Toyota Center 9 p.m. ESPN

Game 4: Golden State at Houston Mon. May 25 Toyota Center 9 p.m. ESPN

Game 5*: Houston at Golden State Wed. May 27 Oracle Arena 9 p.m. ESPN

Game 6*: Golden State at Houston Fri. May 29 Toyota Center 9 p.m. ESPN

Game 7*: Houston at Golden State Sun. May 31 Oracle Arena 9 p.m. ESPN
*If necessary

TEAM DEBRIEF: GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS by Zach Harper

HOW DID WE GET HERE: The Warriors manhandled the Rockets during the regular season. They didn't just sweep the season series 4-0; they embarrassed the Rockets in the process. A lot of the embarrassment stemmed from comments by James Harden before their third showdown with the Warriors in which he stated, "They ain't even that good." That was his pregame speech to fire up the Rockets and get them ready to overtake Golden State after losing the first game by 11 and the second game by 12.



That didn't work out so hot. The Warriors blew them out in Houston that game by 25 points and then a few days later hit them with a 13-point defeat. The Warriors dominated the Rockets in their four regular season games to sweep, and with the public knowledge of Harden's pep talk to his teammates.

The Warriors meet up with the Rockets in the playoffs due to mostly dominating the first two rounds. They didn't blow the New Orleans Pelicans out of the water in the first round, and needed an incredible 3-pointer by Stephen Curry over Anthony Davis to force an overtime and get the win in Game 3. But even though the majority of the games weren't blowouts, they still swept the Pelicans.

In the second round, the Memphis Grizzlies forced the Warriors to recalibrate their attack after Memphis took a 2-1 series lead. Once they did, they won the final three games of the series by 17, 20, and 13 points, respectively. Curry woke up and started bombing from 3-point range and the Warriors got quite a bit of rest heading into the conference finals.

BIG PICTURE: The big picture in this series will boil down to the MVP showdown. Curry dominated the majority of the season, got better as the season went along, owned the majority of the conversations, and he ended up winning the MVP award in a landslide. His biggest competition in the award race was Harden, who did a phenomenal job of keeping the Rockets competitive and winning while they dealt with major injury after major injury. He pulled them up to the 2-seed in the West with his spectacular offensive attack and an improved effort on defense.

The Warriors' side of the equation believes the Curry MVP win to be an accurate representation of who the player with the most value in the league was this year. The Rockets will be hoping for a similar situation like 1995 when David Robinson won the MVP award over Hakeem Olajuwon and then Olajuwon dominated their playoff series against each other. The two met in the Western Conference finals with the Rockets dispatching the Spurs in six games.

Olajuwon averaged 35.3 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 4.2 blocks while shooting 56 percent from the field and 80.6 percent from the line. Robinson averaged 23.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.2 blocks with 44.9 percent from the field and 77.5 percent from the line. Robinson was good but Olajuwon put a stamp on the season.

Curry mostly outplayed Harden in their regular season match-up, averaging 25.8 points, 8.3 assists, and 6.5 rebounds while hitting 57.8 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from 3. Harden averaged 25.3 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.5 rebounds while making just 40.5 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from 3. The Warriors probably feel pretty confident in Curry's ability to keep pace with what Harden is doing.

X-FACTOR: The bevy of Warriors' wing defenders. Harden is the linchpin of the Rockets' offense, and how he's able to initiate in the pick-and-roll and in isolation sets will determine just how well the Rockets attack the best defense in the NBA. The difficult part of this series for Harden is the Warriors are extremely deep with great wing defenders that can take turns trying to wear him out throughout each game of this series.

Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston could all see time against Harden throughout this series, and they're all plus defenders. Here's how Harden did in the regular season with each defender as the closest defender on a shot Harden took:

Klay Thompson defending: 25 points on 11-of-30 from the field, 3-of-10 from 3-point range
Andre Iguodala defending: 14 points on 6-of-10 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range
Draymond Green defending: 9 points on 4-of-13 from the field, 1-of-5 from 3-point range
Shaun Livingston defending: 4 points on 2-of-5 from the field, 0-of-1 from 3-point range
Harrison Barnes defending: 5 points on 2-of-3 from the field, 1-of-2 from 3-point range

He's had varying degrees of success against each defender with Thompson doing the best job against him. But the fact that he'll never have a break when he's on the floor because they have at least five guys they can throw at him throughout a game means Harden overcoming all of the defense the Warriors have is going to be quite the feat if he can pull it off.

KEY STAT: 40. Including the playoffs, the Warriors have made a ridiculous 40.0 percent from 3-point range or better in a game 48 times this season. That means in over half of the 92 games they've played, they've hit 40.0 percent of their 3-pointers. They've won 44 of those 48 games. They even did this twice against the Rockets during the regular season.

This is impressive because the Rockets were the best 3-point defense in the NBA this season. Opponents made just 32.2 percent of 3's against Houston this season. The Warriors are characterized as a "jump shooting team" but they're actually one of the most perfect blends on inside and outside attacks in the NBA. They were the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA and it helped set them up to make the second most shots in the restricted area this season. If the Warriors reach that 40 percent mark from 3, trust that they'll be killing the Rockets all over the court.

HOW THE WARRIORS WIN THIS SERIES: The Warriors have a huge advantage in this series because they're rested, they're healthy, and they're simply the better team. We saw this Warriors team have to reset themselves against the Grizzlies in Round 2, but it was a lesson they needed to learn about not taking their opponent lightly when the opponent is scrapping. The Rockets have been scrapping for the last three games to move on to the conference finals. If the Warriors take the Rockets seriously from the start and execute the way we expect them to on offense, they should be able to not only win this series but win it early.

They can prove to Harden they're actually pretty good.

[StarDust Bum]

NBA Playoffs Threat Rankings: Conference finals danger zone

As we did with the first and second rounds, it's time to update our threat rankings. Here we rank the most dangerous, not the necessarily the best, remaining NBA playoff teams. It's not about most likely to win the title or the best roster. It factors who they have in front of them, how they match up and what the ceiling is for execution and overall play.

1. Golden State Warriors: Golden State had a higher point differential vs. Memphis than it did vs. the Pelicans, despite losing two games to the Grizzlies. The Warriors are growing and adapting. They got hit in the mouth by Memphis, put on the deck. Some teams go down and they stay down. The Warriors came back up with a 2x4 and knocked the Grizzlies into the stratosphere.

There's no team with this combination of talent, defensive strength and discipline, speed and -- of course -- shooting ability. They have no discernible weakness, and when you look at the rest of the field, the question seems to not be whether the Warriors will win the title but how many games it will take them to do it.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers: I picked the Hawks to upset the Cavaliers -- yes, it's an upset despite Atlanta being the higher seed -- yet I still consider Cleveland more dangerous. Because if the Cavs do manage to defeat Atlanta, it will be because LeBron James burns himself out in a supernova of pure talent and drags this critically damaged, jet-fuel-leaking, one-armed super-robot of a team to the finish line. His presence changes the structure of the game like introducing a new weapon into a video game -- the ultimate power-up.

The Cavs seemingly also would have the only real counter to Golden State with their combination of interior size (Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov) and speed with Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert. Throw in J.R. Smith's Roman candle abilities and you have a team with a low floor and an exceptionally high ceiling.

They have to get healthy, though, and even then it might not be enough to beat Golden State in the NBA Finals.

3. Houston Rockets: The wild card. The Rockets should be dead meat vs. the Warriors, but they should have been dead meat vs. the Clippers after going down 3-1. They should have been dead meat for the division when Dwight Howard went down. They should have been dead meat for the No. 2 seed when they lost Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas. The Rockets have proven themselves to be the most resilient team in these playoffs.

Their threat comes not necessarily from talent; you know what James Harden brings (free throws) and what Dwight Howard brings (missed free throws). You can't really control what Josh Smith brings (apparently that's step-back 3-pointers now) or Corey Brewer (aka Leaky McCherrypicks). Instead, their danger comes from unpredictability. The Rockets are playing with house money and can throw any lineup out at any point. They have versatility and a surprising well of resilience. Can that translate to, you know, actually beating a team better than they are?

4. Atlanta Hawks: I very much like their personnel and style of play and have trumpeted their success all season. But in the playoffs the Hawks have morphed into a combination of the very things they avoided all year. Their execution has been poor, they're banged up, they can't make 3-pointers and Jeff Teague is a mess. These are the Bizarro Hawks.

I picked them over Cleveland because injuries and depth take a toll over a seven-game series but I also wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta were swept in this round or the next. It simply hasn't been able to find that top gear that it had in the regular season. This isn't about lack of star power, but not having a go-to player is hurting the Hawks since their expert execution isn't executing expertly.

Those are the teams, but this is a player's league. Who are the most dangerous players left? The usual suspects are where you expect, but there are surprises. Again, this isn't about the best overall players, it's about who can make a run and impact playoff games above the others.

1. Warriors PG Stephen Curry: You have to give this nod to the MVP. While LeBron James remains the best overall player on the planet, his ability to hit that top gear game after game has been absent. You can consider him 1B to Curry's 1A, based on defense, rebounding, playmaking, leadership and pure bull-in-a-china-shop-ness, but Curry retains this top spot for his consistency.

Curry was stymied by an effective strategy in two games vs. the Grizzlies: Hedge him to the ends of the earth with the big in the pick-and-roll, and keep one defender attached to his hip at all times. Golden State's response in Games 4, 5 and 6 wasn't so much a switch to other skills for Curry as it was simply an increased focus. More misses for Memphis meant more running opportunities for Curry, and more 3s in the air. When you have a shooter like Curry -- and by that I mean only Curry because nobody shoots like him -- you don't need to put him in different positions when struggling, just get him more opporunities. That applies more pressure, which eventually breaks the dam, and ... splash. No one spark a shift in momentum like Curry. Just ask the Grizzlies about that 60-foot downer Curry put on 'em in Game 6.

When Stephen Curry is rolling, there's nothing like it in the NBA. (Getty)
When Stephen Curry is rolling, there's nothing like it in the NBA. (Getty)
2. Cavs SF LeBron James: Look, he's still LeBron James. That Game 5 performance still shows that. But he's not that player every game. That consistency has been missing and has shown up on the edges. He's shooting his worst percentage in postseason play since 2008 (42 percent) and only 15 percent from 3-point range. Now, we could see a regression to the mean so steep it could wipe out the dinosaurs with its velocity, but until he's able to show that he's in a place physically to put on that kind of performance every single night, he's behind Curry.

That said, you had better run for your lives if he's staring you down in an elimination game. James, understanding what his team needs given its injury situation, has turned back to old tricks. Postups, punishing smaller defenders and finding the kickout to the shooters he has come to trust on Cleveland. Pick-and-roll cross-court swings. The mid-range jumper if he has it going, but he's not relying on it as much. And defensively, he has been a monster.

3. Warriors SF Draymond Green: That's right. Draymond Green. Not Kyrie Irving (well, that's because of injury) or James Harden. It's Green. Look, threat level should be based on the amount of damage a guy can do to his team's opponents and not many can swing a game like Green. If he's able to shut down Josh Smith's inside-out game while punishing the Rockets for doubling Curry, it makes the Warriors near unstoppable. Green isn't the player Harden or Irving is. But within the context of a playoff game, what he provides is more valuable. He's an un-switchable player. What I mean is, there's no pick-and-roll set you can put him in that will net you the matchup you want, because he can control any matchup. Put him on Dwight Howard? By Game 3, he'll figure out how to disrupt the post entry or pick-and-roll pass. Put him on Josh Smith, recovering off the pick-and-roll help? He'll disrupt the pass in time to contest the 3. Put him on Harden? He'll make Harden work for it.

Offensively, Green has a little bull-in-a-china-shop to him as well. He's the spiritual and emotional core of the Warriors. Curry is their leader, but Green is the field leader and the one who can turn Oracle Arena from a stadium into a post-apocalyptic lunatic convention.

4. Rockets SG James Harden: I feel positively sick putting Harden this low, but not as bad as I feel about this: If Irving were healthy, he would be here. Harden needs free throws. That's his reality. The Rockets are 3-3 in playoff games when Harden shoots fewer than 10 free throws. They are 5-1 in games in which he shoots more than 10. That's not a weakness. Harden plays at an elite level when it comes to drawing contact and forcing whistles, but it still depends on that whistle. It's not within his control. He struggled in the Clippers series, with J.J. Redick doing superb work on him. On the other hand, he stepped up on the biggest stage in Game 7 with 31-7-8.

Harden's defense is what has me most concerned. I spent a significant chunk of the year monitoring, and eventually writing about what a good defender he had become. He had turned a corner and those YouTube disaster highlight reels of him seemed to be gone. They roared back to life in the Clippers series. Whether it was his illness or exhaustion that took him out of it, Harden went back to watching cutters slip in front of him, slide behind him, and not engaging in transition. He has to get that back in the conference finals. It's too important for what Houston needs.

His passing, though, is overlooked. For reference? Harden has 10.3 assists per 100 possessions in the playoffs. Stephen Curry has 9.2.

5. Cavs PG Kyrie Irving: We just don't know what Irving we're going to get and that's a worry. Cleveland's best hope for the title lies with overwhelming opponents with star power, but injuries have compromised them. They still need Irving to deliver. He has put in some gusty performances through two rounds, but he's just not the same guy and the Cavs need him at that level.

If he can get healthy ... watch out. There are two scorers who when healthy are impossible to defend effectively: Curry and Irving. Harden you can deter with long, athletic defenders who understand his timing and rhythm. With James if you can survive in the post you can urge him into jump shots -- and he's not shooting as he did in 2013. But Irving? Irving is out of this world. Only Curry is a better shot-maker and Irving's defense has been simply spectacular in the playoffs. It's the one realm of his game that I'm most impressed with. Even injured, he's plugged in on each possession. There's real maturity there, and James deserves a lot of credit for helping to instill it.

6. Warriors SG Klay Thompson: Thompson's numbers are great. Twenty-five on 48 percent shooting and 48 percent (!!!) from 3-point range. So why doesn't it feel as impressive? It's mostly a matter of context. If you're attacking Curry, Klay's going to be open. His struggles off the dribble with turnovers created some concerns, and overall Thompson feels like a player whose points you can live with if you're trying to deter the rest of the Warriors. He made some great plays in Games 5 and 6 of the Memphis series, and he's still No. 6 here.

That said, if Klay owns his matchup with defense (and his lockdown of Mike Conley was part of what turned that series so quickly), and Harden's defensive woes pop up (or if the Rockets assign Corey Brewer and not Trevor Ariza to him), Thompson can take over the conference finals and the NBA Finals don't present a challenge where he can't shine, either.

7. Rockets C Dwight Howard: When was the last time Howard absolutely dominated a matchup? Just went berserk and won the game for his team? In 2011, the Hawks let him run wild while shutting down his Magic compatriots. Last year his numbers were good but it still felt like the Blazers got the better end of the matchup. You have to go back to the Finals run in 2009 with the Magic and that Game 7 vs. Boston when Howard absolutely dominated to get that feeling vs. a good team.

Can Howard dominate Andrew Bogut? Or is Bogut simply going to frustrate him, aggravate him and generally put Howard on tilt? Can Howard be the defensive presence that shapes a series when the Warriors' attack is outside-in, not inside-out? The post game is a non-starter. It hasn't been efficient enough for years to make the number of possessions he needs to get it going worth it. The Warriors' pick-and-roll coverage is handsy and physical, it annoys you into mistakes and swallows up space to operate. Can Howard's athletic advantage shine there?

Howard's No. 7 out of respect for what he can do defensively. But going into the conference finals, you simply can't believe in that lofty hope of dominance that has been gone for so many years making a return.

8-9. Hawks C Al Horford, PF Paul Millsap: These two go together, and I hate to be "that guy" when it comes to the Hawks' star power, but if you're asking me who's going to have a more explosive series, who can turn a series on its head and dominate the headlines? I can't go to Horford and Millsap. Can't do it.

But they are in this top 10 for a reason. Horford very quietly won the Wizards series. You can talk about the Wall injury or Pierce's buzzer-beater not being in time, but Horford outright took over this series after Game 3 and in large part put the team on his back. He was the best player in that series and it wasn't particularly close. Horford's numbers are pedestrian: 16-10-4 on 49 percent shooting. Good, not great, as is the general consensus of Horford's position in the NBA structure. But he showed in Games 4 and 5 of the Wizards series that he can have impacts that go far beyond the box score. It's deflections, smart passes, big rebounds, key plays. He's an extremely cerebral player, and that puts him in position to swing games and in turn, series.

Let me put it this way: Dwight Howard is a better player than Al Horford, but who would you rather have on your team night after night, given limitations, frustrations and overall playmaking ability?

Millsap has struggled. This is an opportunity to redeem himself and cement what is already going to be a massive payday for him this summer. He's going to spend time on LeBron James in this series and throughout the years, Millsap has done a tremendous job against James, because Millsap in many ways is the B-level power forward flip of James. Nimble enough to play from the perimeter, strong enough to play inside. He's a beast of a man, but he's also facing legit size in the conference finals, and that could be problematic, and then Draymond Green or Josh Smith if they were to advance, and those aren't ideal, either.

Millsap has so much more than what he has shown in the playoffs, be it because of illness, the Hawks' malaise, or matchups. You would hope the best would come at the most opportune time for one of the game's most underrated players and along with Horford, tandems.

10. Cavs SG J.R. Smith: Ugh. I cannot believe I am writing this. As a long-time, and I mean long-time, critic of Smith's game going back to his play-breaking, George-Karl-infuriating days in Denver (and New Orleans before that), it pains me to put him here over guys like Tristan Thompson, Andrew Bogut, Josh Smith, Corey Brewer, Trevor Ariza, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver (who would definitely be here if his hands could remember how to throw the basketball into the thing with the net), Harrison Barnes or really pretty much any member of the top seven rotations of the four remaining teams.

And yet here he is.

None of the others can shift a game like Smith. When he gets hot, the entire arena starts buzzing. "Here goes J.R." You can almost hear the NBA Jam guy saying "He's heating up!" Smith's play with Cleveland has been about as good as you're going to get. Outside of the unacceptable suspension play he snagged for himself vs. Boston, he has been a model citizen, and hasn't caused the drama he did in New York. He has played within himself, and that's not just a subjective perception. Of Smith's 9.6 shots per game in the playoffs, 6.1 are spot-up attempts, via NBA.com. For J.R. Smith to only take three shots off the dribble? That's remarkable growth.

What's more, his defense has been on point, and he has made big plays with his passing and hustle. Maybe a player really can change at age 29 in the right situation, if he has LeBron there to sit on his shoulder and ward off the basketball demons. Smith has to be considered a series-swinging factor player.

[StarDust Bum]

NBA Playoffs: 10 things to watch for the conference finals

The conference finals are upon us, with the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets starting the festivities on Tuesday. The Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers follow them on Wednesday. Here's a look at many reasons to be excited and intrigued about what's to come.

1. The Real MVP?

It feels like this year belongs to Stephen Curry, and the Golden State guard won the Most Valuable Player award in a landslide. Houston's James Harden, though, was a worthy runner-up. CBSSports.com's Matt Moore broke down the race in great detail, and when you really look at it, the vote probably should have been closer than it was.

The argle-bargle between Warriors and Rockets fans will be exhausting if one team clearly outplays the other, and we know that the two superstars won't spend much time guarding each other. Still, it's fun that the two most impactful players in the league this season will meet with a trip to the Finals on the line. Especially given that Harden seemed a little salty about the whole thing.

2. Can LeBron be stopped?

It's ridiculously reductive to look at the Eastern Conference Finals as LeBron James vs. the Hawks, or LeBron James vs. team basketball, or LeBron James vs. everything good and sacred. If the Cavaliers are going to win, they'll need contributions from a variety of players. It'll help, however, if James is able to play like the Basketball God he is.

In the Chicago Bulls series, James looked like alarmingly mortal a lot of the time and shot 40 percent from the field. In Game 5, though, when Cleveland needed him to be transcendent, he was. That 38-point, 12-rebound, six-assist, three-block, three-steal performance turned everything around. Unlike Atlanta, the Cavs don't have four All-Stars. But they do have the best player on the planet, and it's unclear if the Hawks' solid team D will be able to contain him.

3. The brilliance of Golden State's defense

We'll remember Curry's 62-footer and the Warriors raining 3s against the Memphis Grizzlies, but the real reason they advanced is their defense. Golden State allowed the fewest points per possession of any team in the regular season, and they put the clamps on Memphis in Game 4 and beyond. It's going to be a big adjustment going up against Houston, though.

While the Grizzlies' offense revolves around Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph's inside presence, the Rockets made and attempted more 3-pointers than anybody else in the regular season. The Warriors dared Memphis to beat them from the outside, but that obviously won't be the strategy here. With a spaced floor, pick-and-rolls involving Harden and Dwight Howard aren't easy for anybody to cover, even Golden State.

4. Kyrie's health

Let's give Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving some sort of imaginary award for the way he's played through pain. It's been awfully impressive how he's dealt with his sprained foot and the tendinitis in his knee, especially in that same Game 5 where James became a superhero., Irving was able to sit out most of the series clincher, and he's had some time to rest since. This is great news for the Cavs, but there's still no guarantee he'll get back to anything close to 100 percent.

Irving's offense is needed, sure, but the bigger worry here is how he's able to move defensively. The Hawks will surely look to make him guard pick-and-rolls and chase his man around screens. We know he'll do his best, but we don't know if that'll be good enough.

5. Dominant Dwight

Howard hasn't advanced this far in the postseason since 2010, when his Orlando Magic lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. He finished fourth in MVP voting that year and second the next, and he's finally looking similar to that guy again. He's not getting as many post-ups as he'd probably like, but he's healthy and he's been an elite defender and rebounder.

The Rockets need peak Howard if they're going to defeat this Warriors juggernaut. Games will change if he can get Andrew Bogut into foul trouble. His ability to move his feet, protect the paint and play defend pick-and-rolls without fouling will go a long way toward slowing down Golden State's attack.

6. Missing Korver

I miss Kyle Korver's scoring explosions. When Atlanta was rolling, it was common for him to hit a few threes in succession. It meant the Hawks were never out of games when trailing, and they were capable of delivering demoralizing knockout punches. Lately, though, this hasn't been happening.

Korver averaged just seven points per game on 31.3 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range against the Washington Wizards. It's not that he didn't affect games — Washington still guarded him as if he was making 70 percent of his shots, and Korver played terrific defense — but Atlanta struggled to find open looks for him with Bradley Beal chasing him around. Can the Cavs make him keep missing?

7. Iguodala's time to shine

Andre Iguodala averaged 27.6 minutes per game in the first round against the New Orleans Pelicans and 27.3 per game against the Grizzlies, just slightly up from his 26.9 minutes per game in the regular season. This might be the time to bring that number above 30.

The Warriors have many capable wing defenders, but Iguodala is the best of them. It makes sense to have him guard Harden as much as possible without throwing the other guys out of rhythm, and it'll be easier to keep him out there if he keeps shooting as well as he did in the second round. While he helped his team by graciously accepting a bench role this season, this particular challenge gives him a chance to be the difference-maker.

8. Who's deeper, Atlanta or Cleveland?

This question would have seemed insane in January, but so much has changed since then. The Hawks, who were praised endlessly for their depth earlier in the season, have found themselves searching for any kind of production off the bench. Dennis Schröder's wild playmaking has produced both awful and awesome results, and Mike Muscala has had his moments, but Kent Bazemore and Pero Antic have hurt them offensively. On the other hand, Atlanta did have that crazy, reserve-led comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 3.

After Kevin Love's injury, the Cavs' depth came into question. Some even compared this roster to the ones James carried before he left for the Miami Heat. Cleveland got past the Bulls, though, largely because of the work of Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert. Neither team here wants to go deep into its bench, but the series might be about which one can get more out of its role players.

9. One man's trash …

Josh Smith and Corey Brewer not only led the Rockets' insane fourth-quarter run in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers, they were instrumental in the team fighting back from the 3-1 series deficit. The two of them could hardly buy a bucket in the first four games, but combined to shoot 53.6 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from deep in the final three.

Houston picked up Smith when the Detroit Pistons waived him just before Christmas, and it acquired Brewer in a salary dump about a week before that. The fact they've raised the team's ceiling is a great story, but it's no secret that these two can be erratic. The Rockets have to hope they keep making shots.

10. Can the Hawks and Cavs redeem the East?

Let's be honest: the Eastern Conference playoffs have been disappointing. The Washington Wizards were the only team that exceeded expectations, and they're gone. Cleveland-Atlanta is the matchup we've wanted for months, but neither team has been particularly inspiring in the postseason. They've been involved in many close games, but not a lot of aesthetically pleasing ones.

The good news is that we know the Cavs and Hawks are capable of more. We can still picture them playing like legitimate title contenders. Here's hoping they get back to that and the East ends up as interesting as the West, if not more.

[StarDust Bum]

Team Open Line Movements Current Moneyline Halftime Scores

9:00 PM EDT

501 HOUSTON ROCKETS 218.5o11 219.5 / 220.5 / 221 220.5 +475

502 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS -10 EVEN -10 -15 / -10 / -10 -18 -10.5 -625

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