NATE SILVER: Warriors have a 69% chance to win the NBA Finals
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
After beating the Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night, 96-88, according to Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.com the Golden State Warriors now have a 69% chance to repeat as NBA Champions.
The website, which uses a combination of its Elo model and CARMELO player rankings to offer NBA playoff result probabilities, gives the Cleveland Cavaliers a comparatively measly 31% chance to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Prior to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the site gave the Thunder the best chances of winning the title at 44%. Now, the Warriors are back to the top of the rankings, as they were for the majority of the season.
Upon first glance, however, a 69% chance to win the Finals sounds high for any team, even the Warriors. Golden State is, of course, the best regular-season basketball team in NBA history, and they are riding an emotional high after escaping a 3-1 Western Conference Finals hole. Stephen Curry & co. also dominated the Cavs in the regular season, not to mention beat them in last year's final in six games.
But this is the NBA Finals - the cliché that anything can happen is more true now than in any earlier round of the playoffs. And unlike last year, LeBron James has a healthy roster around him. Entering the Finals, the Cavs have lost just two games - in the far less-competitive Eastern Conference - compared to the Warriors' five.
Silver's site also gives the Warriors a 72% chance to win Game 1 in Oakland, favoring them by six points. That game tips off on June 2.
NOW WATCH: Usain Bolt's key to winning
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- From heart health to detoxification: 10 reasons to eat beetroot
- Why did a NASA spacecraft suddenly start talking gibberish after more than 45 years of operation? What fixed it?
- ICICI Bank shares climb nearly 5% after Q4 earnings; mcap soars by ₹36,555.4 crore
- Markets rebound sharply on buying in bank stocks firm global trends
- Bengaluru's rental income highest in Q1-2024, Mumbai next: Anarock report
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market