Best Of Seven these teams could go all the way to a championship title
Chicago Bulls (45-14)
The Bulls are going to win the East's regular-season crown despite
Derrick Rose missing at least 23 games with a variety of ailments.
The Bulls pretty much clinched the East's No. 1 seed with a stirring victory over Miami that came with Rose back on the floor ... but also with Rose submitting what might have been the most ineffective performance of his career.
The Bulls rightfully aren't getting carried away with either achievement.
They know they can't. Until the Bulls see Rose in the playoffs, playing freely, they don't dare overblow what they've managed to do without him, no matter what this season's success says about the improvement of Rose's supporting cast. A 94% final team.
Oklahoma City Thunder (42-16)
Kevin Durant,
Russell Westbrook and
James Harden.For the Thunder, specifically, nothing is more glaring than their lack of interior scoring. OKC's tendency to be outfoxed by older, smarter teams like San Antonio that can game plan them into trouble -- as seen in the 2011 conference finals against Dallas -- is another lingering issue. But beware of the DUO of
Durant and Westbrook they are a very high scoring core that can drain life out anyone...A 92% final team.
San Antonio Spurs (41-16)
I thought the Spurs were finally finished. Back in December, when the lockout ended, I saw little hope for the black and silver. No financial flexibility to change their team.Turns out that the drafting of
Kawhi Leonard changed the team enough early on, because (A) Leonard fit in San Antonio's system better than any of us outsiders realized, and (B) coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford were wise enough to keep Tony Parker. a surprising know how and 90% shot to over come OKC to the finals
Miami Heat (40-17)
Amazing, isn't it? No matter how many teams
you think can win the championship two months from now, I'm pretty sure we can all agree on this point: No team in the discussion is more freaked out on this Friday the 13th, suddenly soaked in self-doubt, than the Heaters.They're 13-10 since the All-Star break. They're pretty much unable to count on anyone offensively not named
LeBron James or
Dwyane Wade these days, which instantly makes you wonder if the Heat would ever dare to make the very un-Riley-like decision to concede the East's No. 1 seed after what happened Thursday night in Chicago and start slicing the stars' minutes to try to steal them some needed rest.If they come alive and can do what they did last year chicago may see trouble but this a 88% team to win it all.
Boston Celtics (34-24)
Show me a team with more key players playing well. Show me a team playing more suffocating team D than Boston is at the moment. Show me a team in the East with more championship know-how. Or more last-hurrah hunger.
Right.You can't.
The Celts might have been teetering toward extinction as recently as the All-Star break, when they were 15-17, but huge second-half spikes in performance from
Rajon Rondo,
Kevin Garnett and
Paul Pierce -- along with the surges-from-nowhere-to-prominence for
Avery Bradley and
Greg Stiemsma -- have completely changed the way we look at these guys
Boston can steal the show and slide into the finals on a 80% shot and win it all
Los Angeles Lakers (37-22)
Without
Ramon Sessions,
Kobe Bryant & Co. aren't in this conversation. Even with Sessions and what he's done to breathe life into the Lakers' ball movement, it's hard to look at the Lakers and look past the bench issues (and their corresponding dearth of perimeter shooting) and project them to win 16 playoff games. Or even 12. with so much happen to this core L.A slide back and 71% contender
Memphis Grizzlies (34-24)
Determined to pick at least one legit sleeper, I gave deep consideration to both Orlando (simply because the sight of
Dwight Howard is something both Chicago and Miami dread) and the
Los Angeles Clippers (in a nod to the way
Chris Paul is closing games but they might be our sleeper along with yes the Knicks 70% contender
Never A Dull Moment Need your fill of drama? Well, look no further than the Heat and Knicks. They've got enough to go around.
NEW YORK KNICKS KS
New York Knicks to be the team that will make a deep run in the Eastern Conference playoffs. a true sleeper
if Melo /Davis continue and they get Lin back look out still only a 62% real shot to a title
L.A CLIPPERS
could roll in there if not careful in the WEST aul as of late been a closer in style and Griffen
LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul's clutch play in the fourth quarter is a big reason why the Los Angeles Clippers are closing in on a rare playoff berth.Blake Griffin DeAndre Jordan and Mo Williams they have what it takes on this 59% shot.