NBA fans should be pretty fired up about this Finals matchup between the Celtics and Warriors that starts Thursday night. There are tons of potential narratives and an interesting contrast between these two teams.
Raheem Palmer of The Ringer joined In The Zone today and discussed the chess fight that is ahead us. Boston might need to adjust after Game One, considering teams that just played in a Game Seven do not have a good record in the following game, historically.
Also, the Warriors' experience, home court advantage, ball movement, off-ball movement provide a challenge for any defense, so it might take Boston some time to figure out their formula for this series. But as we all know from this postseason, the Celtics don't lose two straight.
Boards, fastbreak points, and turnovers will be the biggest factors according to Raheem. He also talked about Marcus Smart being the key to the series (a fun long-shot sprinkle for Finals MVP.)
In the podcast clip below, Raheem Palmer previews the NBA Finals from a betting perspective.
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