This year the NBA has been as close as ever. There are so many championship caliber teams, that it's become very hard to predict what is going to happen. There are so many storylines colliding, that I firmly believe that it could be a one of a kind post-season.
The favorites in my opinion would be the two LA teams, the clippers and the lakers in the western conference, and at the eastern conference the brooklyn nets, and the philadelphia 76ers. All of them have amazing, well established players who already have made a name for themselves.
- LeBron has been defying the laws of nature with the way he has kept in shape despite his age. And not only does he keep himself in shape, he also makes his team better. He makes the best of the cards dealt, any player next to him simply starts playing better. And he is paired with another superstar in AD.
- Over at the clippers they just had a very disappointing post-season, losing against the nuggets despite having a 3-1 lead. They made many changes, they even changed their coach. And boy are they back! They seem motivated, they play well despite the fact that their star, Kawhi is known for not taking the regular season as seriously. After their last bust, they have everything to prove.
- The nets somehow managed to build a team in discussion for the championship, by signing 3 actual superstars. The real question here is wether they can build a supporting cast good enough to win bo7 games. A good offense can get you a bo1 win easily, but when you face the same team 7 times in a row, defense starts being more important.
- I'm chosing the 76ers instead of the bucks as the 2nd contender out of the east cause of one reason: they match up better against the nets. Both the 76ers and the bucks are very strong teams, with starts who can take over games, but I think Embiid has a better chance of carrying a bo7 against the nets. And this might be a bit controversial, but I also think that the supporting cast of the 76ers is also a tad better. Now that they got (the other) Curry as a good three point shooter, they can space the floor a lot better.
