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Hopkins Predicts the NBA Finals

Sam Cherry ‘23 Assistant Sports Editor
With the 2021 NBA playoffs underway, the top sixteen teams are looking to secure a championship.
The reigning champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, are trying to repeat a championship after injuries left both of their superstar players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, out for multiple weeks. At the beginning of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers had the best odds of winning the championship. FiveThirtyEight, a website dedicated to opinion poll analysis in politics, economics, and sports, had the Lakers with a 34% chance of making the Finals, and a 21% chance of winning the tournament. If that happens, the Lakers will win their eighteenth championship, breaking their tie with the Boston Celtics for the most titles in NBA history.

Unfortunately, the Lakers’ season has not gone as predicted. Perhaps as a result, as of May 14, FiveThirtyEight had the Lakers with only a 7% chance of winning the playoffs, behind five other teams.

FiveThirtyEight’s preseason number-two seed, the Celtics, also disappointed, despite not having any major injuries like the Lakers. By May, FiveThirtyEight gave the Celtics the eighth-best odds of winning it all, at only 3%.

Surprisingly, the Brooklyn Nets, whom many see as the title contenders, had only a 1% chance of winning the championship according to FiveThirtyEight at the beginning of the season. By the end of the season, FiveThirtyEight ranked the Nets as fourth overall, with a 28% chance of making the Finals and a 13% chance of winning.

A poll of over 100 members of the Hopkins community showed that 38% of the respondents believed that the Brooklyn Nets have the best chance
of making it to the NBA finals. Out of the Western Conference teams, respondents chose the Lakers as the team with the highest chance of getting to the finals with 34%. Opinion on the likely winner of the finals was divided, with the Nets strongly outpacing other choices but 40% of respondents choosing “Other.”

When asked about his opinion on who was going to win the Finals, Juan Lopez ’22 said, “I think the Nets will win because they have so much star talent. No one will be able to guard them.”
With so many solid contenders, this year’s playoffs are sure to be exciting.
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