Another season of the greatest sports league in the world is just a few months away. Wait, didn't the NBA season just end? Yep! Isn't it awesome! The reason why the upcoming season is so intriguing is because there are so many teams that have a legitimate shot to make it to the Finals and win the championship. The Heat, Bulls, Clippers, Thunder, Spurs, Pacers, Rockets, and Nets all believe that this could be their year, so it's shaping up to be a great season. Let me go ahead and give you my prediction of how the final four will shake out.
The West:
The Clippers have the talent. They've had the talent for the past two seasons. I think that bringing in Doc Rivers will make the difference and help them finally win in the playoffs, mostly because he will teach them how to play elite defense.
The Spurs have basically the same team as last year. They still have the best coach in the NBA, and as long as Duncan's body doesn't break down, he will be hungry to make up for last season's heartbreaking loss in the Finals.
The Thunder didn't get better in the offseason; in fact, they may have become a little bit worse. Kevin Martin left, which means that they have pennies on the dollar left from what they got in the James Harden trade. Jeremy Lamb, however, looked good in the Summer League, so we'll see if he or any of their other bench guys can fill in for Martin, but that's a big if. Even with a healthy Westbrook in this year's playoffs, I don't see them getting past the second round.
The Rockets will be interesting to watch, but unless Dwight Howard is going to be the Dwight Howard of a few seasons ago, they won't make it past the second round of the playoffs. There is the possibility of a deal that would include Omer Asik being traded to Boston for Rajon Rondo somewhere down the road, however, in which case I might change my mind, but that remains to be seen.
Western Conference Finals: Clippers vs. Spurs
The winner of this series, I believe, will be decided by just how much Doc Rivers improves the Clippers' defense, and how well the Spurs' health holds up. Popovich, though, is a master of distributing minutes to keep his best players healthy, but we'll see if he is smart enough to sit Manu in favor of newly acquired Marco Belinelli in the playoffs. As a Bulls fan watching last year's playoffs, when Hinrich was hurt I was most comfortable with Belinelli running the offense, so he could be a key pickup for San Antonio. In any case, I give the edge to the Spurs to make the Finals again.
Go Jazz!
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