Michigan Basketball: Slew of former Wolverines in NBA conference finals
Each of the NBA’s four conference finalists has at least one Michigan basketball player on its roster with Jordan Poole being the most prominent.
After two Game 7s in the NBA playoffs on Sunday, we are now down to the final four teams as the Heat will face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Warriors will take on the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.
Golden State closed out its series in Game 6 on Friday night and former Michigan basketball standout Jordan Poole has been a key part of the Warriors’ playoff push. He opened the playoffs as a starter due to Steph Curry’s injury and came off the bench against Memphis.
His numbers have dipped a little bit after a poor shooting game in Game 6, but Poole is averaging over 19 points a game in 11 postseason games for Golden State and shooting 50 percent from the field, as well as 39 percent from 3-point range. He’s also averaging 4.8 assists.
With at least one @umichbball player on each of the four teams remaining in the NBA playoffs, a Wolverine will win the world championship for the first time since Juwan Howard in 2013.
— Clayton Sayfie (@CSayf23) May 16, 2022
Other former Michigan basketball players in conference finals
If it wasn’t for an injury to Tim Hardaway Jr., we’d see a pair of Michigan basketball players playing key roles in the Western Conference Finals. Trey Burke is still on the Mavs roster and he’ll get some run off the bench but his minutes are limited.
The same can be said for Nik Stauskas who signed with the Celtics late in the season. He scored just two points in the Eastern Conference semifinals and averaged 1.8 minutes per game.
Hardaway was dealing with a fracture in his foot and despite there being hope he could return for the playoffs, it looks like he will miss the rest of the postseason at this point.
Duncan Robinson was a starter for the Miami Heat the last time they went to the conference finals (and NBA finals) in 2020 but the former Michigan basketball sharpshooter has seen his minutes steadily decline in the postseason after opening with 27 points in the playoff opener against Atlanta on 8-of-9 3-point makes.
Next. 5 Wolverines who need to step up next season. dark
Since then, Robinson is 3-of-14 from 3-point range and only saw action in three of the six games against the 76ers. We’ll see what his role will be against Boston, but it’s never bad to have an elite shooter coming off the bench, even though lately, it’s been a bit of a struggle.