With the two-time, defending NBA Champion, Los Angeles Lakers out of the equation, we will have a new set of hands exchange the Larry O’Brien trophy this season. The Lakers were eliminated in sweeping fashion by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs. As it stands, there are 5 teams remaining in the hunt for a title.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, it will be the second seed, Miami Heat taking on the top-seeded, Chicago Bulls. 
That series gets underway on Sunday evening at 8 PM ET on TNT. The West is a little trickier, as the Mavericks are still waiting for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sports Betting Odds underdog Memphis Grizzlies to finish out their series.
Things are currently tied up at three games apiece, with the series finale scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM ET on ABC Sports.
But despite the fact that we still don’t know who will compete in the West Finals, it really doesn’t matter. According to NBA Finals 2011 Betting Odds makers, the champions this year will come out of the East. At the present time, the Miami Heat [-120] have in their favor the Odds to Win the NBA Finals 2011 by a landslide.
“I think they’ve been an excellent team all year long,” said Bulls coach, Tom Thibodeau. “And now they’ve been together, they’ve played with each other, they’ve been through more situations, so I think they’re more comfortable with each other. But they’ve been a well-balanced team from the start of the season right up until their playoff series with Boston. They played great in the Boston series. They played great in the Philly series. So we know they’re a talented team.”
Miami is closely followed by the Laker-killers, Dallas Mavericks [+200], followed by the Chicago Bulls [+275], Oklahoma City Thunder [+850] and finally the Memphis Grizzlies [+3500]. Who do you think will win the NBA Finals 2011? Bet on the NBA Finals 2011 now!
“Mark is going to do whatever it takes to win a championship,” said Jason Terry. “If it’s to spend more money, he does it. You look at our talent, you look at our roster—he’s done his job.”
