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Stephen A. Smith Predicts Timberwolves to Win NBA Finals After Warriors Series

The Minnesota Timberwolves are dark horses no more.

Clinching their second consecutive trip to the Western Conference finals by dispatching the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games each, the sixth-seeded Wolves have become the darlings of one of the biggest voices in sports media.

On ESPN's "NBA Countdown" for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets' Game 6 matchup, Stephen A. Smith was not concerned with who may come out of that series to face the Timberwolves in the conference finals.

Smith's sights are already on the NBA Finals.

"I believe the Minnesota Timberwolves should be the favorite to win the championship at this point," Smith said on May 15.

Smith's rationale has come from watching the Wolves go 8-2 in the postseason behind the standout efforts of Anthony Edwards (26.5 points per game) and Julius Randle (23.9 ppg), both of whom he namedropped in his case for the Wolves winning it all.

"I think when you see the way that they play defense, obviously that rivals [Oklahoma City]... I'm going to bring up the name Julius Randle, because when I think about how he has played in these playoffs... we know what Ant Man brings to the table," Smith added, noting a potential end-game duel between Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. "Even though [Gilgeous-Alexander] is about to win league MVP, Ant Man is so special, particularly at this moment of his career, I just find it hard to believe that I can look at anybody and say, at this juncture, that they should be favored over Minnesota."

The Timberwolves have a regular-season edge over the Nuggets, winning all four regular-season games against Denver. That appears to be the more favorable matchup instead of a Thunder team that they split games with in the regular season. Oklahoma City also boasts the highest net rating (+13.4) in the playoffs.