On January 12, a college professor and NBA analyst wrote a piece for ESPN categorizing NBA teams as "true contenders" and "dangerous loomers" for the NBA title. There were six true contenders. Only one, Golden State, has survived to make the final four. There were two dangerous loomers, the Los Angeles "Lakers" and Miami "Heat," and one of them is still around in these playoffs.
Dangerous Loomers has become increasingly popular among fans as a further nickname for the "Heat" and has been embraced by the front office.
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According to the PAR Principle, when the "Heat" hold an opponent's best player to under his average of points, rebounds, and assists combined, the "Heat" wins. Jayson Tatum is Boston's best player; his current PAR is 38.5, ergo. The "Heat" is 12-2 in these playoffs under the PAR Principle and Tom Fornelli, the CBS sports pencil who apparently came up with the metric, predicts that Miami will hold Tatum under 38.5 tonight and win. The Las Vegas investment bankers have installed Beans -7 to win (Tyler Herro is out which caused the spread to move a half point), I have historical faith in Vegas and no history with PAR. Ergo, I go with Vegas tonight.
