If the NBA chooses to go straight into the playoffs, what team would win the NBA Finals? This is assuming that players like Kevin Durant do not return! Additionally, in my honest opinion, I do not feel like the NBA will return for at least the next 2 months.
The Western Conference contains several good teams but realistically, there are only two teams with potential to go to the finals. These two teams in my opinion are: the Lakers and the Clippers. The Lakers feature the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis which is definitely the best duo in the NBA as of now. The Clippers feature the duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. If these two teams go head to head in a 7 game series right now, I believe the Lakers would come out victorious because of Anthony Davis. Sure the Clippers have more depth than the Lakers (although both teams are really deep), but they do not have a star big man that would be able to compete with AD. Zubac and Harrell stand no chance against AD. Furthermore, I think LeBron and Kawhi would cancel out as I am assuming that both will guard each other and go at it. However, the role players will definitely play a huge role in deciding this series, as we know both star players on each teams will come out to play, so will the role players be able to provide their respective teams with an edge? At the end, I give the Lakers the edge because I believe like Playoff LeBron is on another level and their mismatch of AD.
However, one team that I think might surprise us are the Rockets. They contain a top 3 offensive talent in James Harden and a top 5 all around talent in Russell Westbrook. If these 2 show up in the playoffs and work off of each other instead of against, I do believe that they will be able to make it past round one. The Nuggets are a couple of seasons away from being on top because of the Clippers and Lakers dynasties that are currently in play. They simply are not good enough to win a 7 game series against them.
The Eastern Conference also contains several teams but realistically, once again, there are only three teams with potential to go to he finals. These three teams are: the Bucks, the Celtics, and the 76ers.
A lot of you might be wondering why I put the 76ers in this conversation. Throughout this whole season, the 76ers have always been down one starter whether it be Simmons, Richardson, Horford, or Embiid. I believe that if their whole team is healthy, as I would assume would be if the playoffs were to start right away, I feel like they could compete with the rest of the teams in the NBA. The 76ers are a complete package on offense, defense, and matchups as they have players who can guard multiple positions. The Bucks are the top team in the East on the back of their star player Gianis and others such as Bledsoe and Middleton. We all know what the Bucks are made of and know they have improved since last season where Kawhi tore them apart.
The Celtics are the third seed right now but Jayson Tatum has been playing out of his mind recently. I believe that behind Jayson Tatum, players like Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter, and etc. will flourish in the playoffs. They have a strong defensive presence as well with the likes of Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Daniel Theis. They are an overall good team but are still young and do not have the big man that will push them over the hump against these other teams.
But at the end, I give the Bucks the slight advantage over all of these teams because who on any of these teams will be able to effectively guard Gianis. Furthermore, they have another all star in Kris Middleton who can also put up buckets. I feel like this race will be close.
Some may be wondering why I didn't put the Raptors into discussion. I believe that in a 7 game series, the Raptors do not have the scoring power to match with the rest of these teams. Pascal Siakam will come to play but where will their second star scorer come from? We all know that Kyle Lowry is a hit or miss in the playoffs. If he was to hit, they do have a chance to match up with these other teams because of their depth but I feel like he has a higher chance of missing. He was their third option last year and that's why he was so effective.
The last two teams that will be standing after all of this are the Bucks and Lakers. If LeBron guards Gianis the way he did in their last meeting, I think the Lakers will have an extremely good chance at beating the Bucks, maybe even sweeping them. Furthermore, once again, AD provides a huge mismatch. If you put Gianis on LeBron, who will guard AD? If you put Gianis on AD, who will guard LeBron? The Bucks do not have that second superstar player. Furthermore, the Lakers just have way more depth than the Bucks do currently. Because of that, I believe the Lakers will win it all.
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