Merry Christmas! No, wait, these are the NBA conference finals. Easy mistake.<\/p>\n
If these games \u2014 San Antonio at Oklahoma City, and Cleveland at New York \u2014 make you want to put on holiday sweaters, have some eggnog and unwrap gifts, there\u2019s a reason. Those matchups were part of the NBA\u2019s schedule on Dec. 25 this season.<\/p>\n
And now, they\u2019re also the matchups for the conference finals.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City and San Antonio will play in the Western Conference finals, that series beginning Monday on the Thunder\u2019s home floor. And Cleveland \u2014 a 31-point Game 7 winner in Detroit on Sunday \u2014 will play New York in the Eastern Conference finals, starting Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s schedule<\/p>\n
\u2014 Game 1, San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT (NBC, Peacock)<\/p>\n
\u2014 Odds: Oklahoma City by 6.5.<\/p>\n
The Spurs went 4-1 against the Thunder (the teams played five times because of the NBA Cup) during the regular season. If the series goes the full seven games, it will mark only the second instance in the last 30 years of two teams meeting 12 times in the same season (Golden State and Houston did it last season).<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s schedule<\/p>\n
\u2014 Game 1, Cleveland at New York, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN)<\/p>\n
\u2014 Odds: New York by 6.5.<\/p>\n
The Knicks started the season with a win over the Cavaliers; they went on to edge Cleveland by one game in the race for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference \u2014 so, the first 82 games maybe do matter! New York went 2-1 against Cleveland in the regular season, and the Cavaliers\u2019 win came after the trade that brought them James Harden.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s recap<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cavaliers 125, Pistons 94<\/a> to win series 4-3. Donovan Mitchell is finally in the conference finals.<\/a><\/p>\n Conference finals schedule<\/p>\n \u2014 East No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Cleveland (all times 8 p.m. EDT) \u2014 Tuesday, at New York; Thursday, at New York; Saturday, at Cleveland; May 25, at Cleveland; May 27, at New York (if necessary); May 29, at Cleveland (if necessary); May 31, at New York (if necessary).<\/p>\n \u2014 West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 2 San Antonio (all times 8:30 p.m. EDT, except where noted) \u2014 Monday, at Oklahoma City; Wednesday, at Oklahoma City; Friday, at San Antonio; Sunday, at San Antonio, 8 p.m. EDT; May 26, at Oklahoma City (if necessary); May 28, at San Antonio (if necessary); May 30, at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. EDT (if necessary).<\/p>\n \u2014 The Oklahoma City-San Antonio winner will have home-court advantage in the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n Awards watch<\/p>\n SGA is the MVP again.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> is the NBA\u2019s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year, the league announced Sunday night. Gilgeous-Alexander held off Denver\u2019s Nikola Jokic and San Antonio\u2019s Victor Wembanyama for the trophy.<\/p>\n And the voting provided a big hint<\/a> about the first-team All-NBA squad still to be announced \u2014 with the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 Luka Doncic and Detroit\u2019s Cade Cunningham looking like they\u2019ll join the MVP finalists on that team.<\/p>\n Other awards handed out so far:<\/p>\n \u2014 Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>: Wembanyama.<\/p>\n \u2014 Clutch Player of the Year:<\/a> Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n \u2014 Sixth Man of the Year:<\/a> Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.<\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsmanship Award:<\/a> Derrick White, Boston.<\/p>\n \u2014 Most Improved Player:<\/a> Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.<\/p>\n \u2014 Rookie of the Year:<\/a> Cooper Flagg, Dallas.<\/p>\n \u2014 Executive of the Year:<\/a> Brad Stevens, Boston.<\/p>\n \u2014 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year<\/a>: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.<\/p>\n