2024 Western Conference Finals Are Here

The 2024 Western Conference finals get underway tonight in Minnesota. The Timberwolves entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed and have used a tenacious defense as well as the wizardry of a young Anthony Edwards to knock off Phoenix and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Minnesota will host the Dallas Mavericks, another surprise entry in the Western Conference finals. The Mavericks were the No. 5 seed in the West and took care of the LA Clippers in Round 1 before eliminating the conference’s top seed, Oklahoma City, in the semifinals. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have been outstanding in the postseason. Doncic has been hobbled by knee and ankle injuries but has fought through the injuries to lead Dallas.

The Mavericks are returning to the Western Conference finals after making it just two years ago. Dallas lost to eventual NBA champ Golden State in the 2022 Western Conference finals. It’s the first trip to the Western Conference finals for the Minnesota Timberwolves since 2004 when the team was led by Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. The TWolves are hoping this series goes much better than that one. Minnesota lost to the LA Lakers in six games.

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Western Conference Finals Preview

The Western Conference finals will feature a showdown of two of the NBA’s best players – Doncic for Dallas and Edwards for Minnesota. Doncic recorded three consecutive triple-doubles to close the series against Oklahoma City. Edwards is averaging 28.9 points per game in the postseason and he has three 40-point playoff games already.

While Doncic and Edwards may be the stars of the Western Conference finals, it will be players like Kyrie Irving (21.1 ppg, 5.4 apg in postseason) of Dallas and Karl-Anthony Towns (18.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg) that turn the tide for their respective teams.

Both teams have shown the ability to play great defense and to come back from large deficits. Minnesota has the best defense in the NBA and in the postseason, the TWolves are holding opponents to just 99.6 points per game. Minnesota was down 20 in the deciding Game 7 against Denver on Sunday. The TWolves defense tightened up and held Denver to 37 second-half points.

Dallas is right behind Minnesota in the postseason defense standings. The Mavs are allowing 103.2 points per game. Part of the reason why is that Dallas is holding teams to 44 percent shooting from the floor. The Mavs also had to rally in their Game 6 series-clinching win over Oklahoma City. Dallas ralled from 17 points down to win 117-116.

James Anderson Breaks the Books

Sports Hub handicapper James Anderson put together one of the more memorable performances in SportsHub history yesterday. He topped the leaderboard with a number typically associated with a capper’s monthly total.

Three more Sports Hub expert handicappers were among the Top 5 yesterday, all with solid days at the window. Uncle Sal Lombardi, Software Seth Cohen, and Charleston’s finest Al Grant all put up solid numbers yesterday. They are the reason why all bettors should have a Sports Hub account. These guys serve up winning picks like Starbucks serves up lattes all day long.

Let’s take a look at our top cappers from yesterday.

• King James returns: Somehow, King James won a bunch of MLB picks and turned that into $1923 in profits. Yes, you read that right…$1923! That catapults James to the top of the 3-day and 7-day leaderboards. He’s also now second on the 30-day leaderboard.

• Drunk Uncle: Sal Lombardi was not visibly impaired yesterday as he cranked out 9 wins among his 14 predictions from yesterday. 9-5 looks good on Sal. So does the $410 he added to the bankroll. 
• Software Seth: Our favorite software guy turned sports handicapper, Seth Cohen, was a perfect 4-0 yesterday. For his efforts, Seth added $400 to his coffers.
• Scott’s Picks: The lone non-Sports Hub expert in yesterday’s Top 5 was Scott’s Picks. Scott hit 4 of 5 picks yesterday, 3-1 on MLB picks, and won $324.
• Call me Al: Al Grant went 3-1 yesterday and earned $219 in profits. That puts him up $585 for the week and $1486 for the month. Al has been tearing up his MLB picks. He moved into the third spot on our 7-day MLB leaderboard with $615 in baseball profits for the week.

Keepin’ Up With the Joneses

It’s important as a sports bettor to keep up with what is going on in the sports world. Bettors especially want to stay ahead of what’s going on in the sports they bet on the most. If you bet on MLB, you would want to know what Ranger Suarez and the Phillies did last night. 

Maybe NASCAR is your thing. You should know that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got a big fine for his actions last week. That could affect his upcoming performances. Whatever your thing is, Sports Hub puts out daily trending sports issues, nuggets of information you can use, hopefully, to win more bets.

Here is today’s trending news.

• Stenhouse fined: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fined by NASCAR after fighting with Kyle Busch at the All-Star Race last weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The two drivers tangled in the first lap of Sunday’s race and, on the second lap, it appeared that Busch may have intentionally tried to crash Stenhouse’s car. Stenhouse parked his damaged car in Busch’s pit stall and said he’d be back when the race ended. That’s when the fight broke out. Next up for both racers is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway this Sunday.
• Suarez now 9-0: Phillies P Ranger Suarez pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball, struck out 10, and moved to 9-0 on the season. Suarez lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.36. The Phillies lead the majors with 35 wins.

• Game 4 return?: Boston C Kristaps Porzingis could return by Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. Boston got a big win last night, but survived Indiana 133-128 in overtime. Porzingis would give the Celtics a boost. The Western Conference finals begin tonight.

Western Conference Finals Top Today’s Schedule

It’s a matchup that not many predicted, but Dallas and Minnesota will start the Western Conference finals tonight. The Timberwolves are a -180 favorite to win the series. The NBA isn’t the only highlight on today’s schedule.

The NHL is back after a night off. The Eastern Conference finals begin tonight in New York. There is a full slate of MLB action today too, kicking off at 1:05 p.m. with Minnesota at Washington. 

For the rest of today’s sports schedule, read on.

1. Western Conference finals: Strap it up and get ready. Two physical, defensive-minded teams will meet in the Western Conference finals starting tonight. Dallas plays Minnesota tonight. The TWolves are a 4.5-point favorite. 

2. NHL is back: The Eastern Conference finals begin in New York tonight. The Rangers are a slim -105 favorite tonight. Interestingly, the Panthers are a -140 favorite to win the series.
3. Full schedule in MLB: It’s Wednesday and that means a full card of baseball games. Several early-week series will be finishing up today. Detroit at Kansas City features two of the better pitchers in baseball right now. Tarik Skubal (6-0, 1.80) goes for the Tigers and Cole Ragans (3-3, 3.70) starts for KC. Game time is 2:10 p.m.
4. Soccer schedule: It’s relatively light on big matches, but today’s soccer schedule features a couple U.S. Open Cup matches. The Copa do Brasil continues today with six more matches. 
5. French Open qualifiers: The qualifying rounds continue at the French Open today at Roland Garros in Paris. The first round gets underway on Sunday.
6. WNBA: There is just one game in the WNBA tonight. Indiana will travel to Seattle to face the Storm. Seattle is a 5.5-point favorite. Can Caitlin Clark and the Fever get their first win of the season?

That’s all for today. Enjoy the Western Conference finals as well as all the other sports action today. For the best picks in the industry, make sure you visit Sports Hub’s members’ area throughout the day. If you’re not a member, join now. It’s free!