Predictions for the NBA Finals and the 157th Belmont Stakes
The elite power forward for the Pacers, Pascal Siakum, sets his sights on getting Indiana its first NBA Championship in the franchise’s 49 years of existence. (Photo courtesy of The Sporting News).
The coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy is in the balance as the Oklahoma City Thunder square off with the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals beginning tonight at 7:30 CT on ABC. These young, highly successful teams have been dominant in the playoffs and both are playing at an extremely high level. For OKC, it’s about the prolific Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The 26- year old, 6’6″, 195, 2025 NBA Most Valuable Player out of Toronto, Canada, by way of Kentucky, averaged 32.7 points per game in the regular season, and has averaged 29.8 in the playoffs. In his two most recent games against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder’s point guard went for 40 and 34 on May 26th and May 28th, respectively. He’s a scoring machine and will be exceptionally tough for the Pacers to stop. The Pacers counter with their great scorer, Pascal Siakum. Siakum, the 31 year old 6’8″, 245 power forward from Douala, Cameroon, by way of New Mexico State, averaged 20.2 points and 6.9 rebounds in the regular season and has gone for 21.1 and 5.8 in the playoffs. He went for 39 against the Knicks on Friday, 5/23, in the Eastern Conference Finals, 30 on Tuesday, 5/27, and 31 in the decisive game 6 Pacers’ victory on Saturday, 5/31. There are several other stellar players on both sides. Nice matchup.
Game Schedule, *****All games on ABC*****
Game 1: Today, Pacers @ Thunder, 7:30 P.M. CT
Game 2: Sunday, 6/8/25, Pacers @ Thunder, 7 P.M. CT
Game 3: Wednesday, 6/11, Thunder@ Pacers, 7:30 P.M. CT
Game 4: Friday, 6/13, Thunder @Pacers, 7:30 P.M. CT
Game 5 (if necessary): Monday,6/16, Pacers @Thunder, 7:30 P.M. CT
Game 6 (if necessary) Thursday, 6/19, Thunder @Pacers, 7:30 P.M. CT
Game 7 (if necessary). Sunday, 6/22, Pacers @Thunder, 7 P.M. CT.
Prediction
OKC in 5,
MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The 157th Running of The Belmont Stakes
Post time for the Belmont, being run at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. for the second year in a row as Belmont Park is still under construction, is at 6:04 P.M. CT and will be broadcast by FOX. The race course is the longest of the Triple Crown races at a mile and a half. The race featutes an eight horse field. Here are the post positions, horses, odds, trainers and jockeys.
Post positions, Horses, Odds, Trainers, Jockeys
1. Hill Road, 10/1, Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz, Jr
2. Sovereignty, 2/1, Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado
3. Rodriguez, 6/1, Mike Smith, Bob Baffert
4. Uncaged, 30/1, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez
5. Crudo, 15/1, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez
6. Baeza, 4/1, John Shirreffs, Flavien Prat
7. Journalism, 8/5, Michael McCarthy, Umberto Rispoli
8. Heart of Honor, 30/1 Jamie Osborne, Saffie Osborne,
Winner
I’m going to take the 17 time Triple Crown winning 72 year old trainer Baffert (3 Belmonts) and the 8 time Triple Crown winning 59 year old jockey Smith (3 Belmonts) to capture “The Test of the Champion,” on the grueling mile and a half course. The track will be pretty muddy as there was a lot of rain in New York State during the spring and will be in these upcoming two days. This thoroughbred won the Wood Memorial in April run in Queens, New York at the Aqueduct Racetrack covering a mile and an eighth in 1:48:15, the fastest mile and an eighth run in the Kentucky Derby prep races in April. Give me:
Rodriguez
