An overview of the title chase or the main NBA contenders

The deadline for transactions has passed. The best players whose contracts have been cleared have already scattered to other teams. Clubs will complete the regular season and compete in the playoffs with teams available at that time. Let’s talk about organizations that will play the Larry O’Brien Cup in the spring.

Hopes for Conference Finals

Dallas

Position strengthened his offense by buying Kyrie Irving this winter. The flat-earth fan and notorious anti-vaccine has brought his skills to Texas and will be playing Doncic. How to play, try to share the ball with him.

The goal of pursuing Dallas is to raise and play Jaylen Brunson to be on the court for 35 minutes or more, shoot heavy shots and fill Luka’s place while he rests. Because in such situations, it is impossible to look at Mavericks without tears.

As for Brunson, he fled to New York over the summer. Why did he run away? I didn’t want to stand in the corner waiting for Doncic to cover the three so he finally gave the ball.

There’s only one “but”: Jason Kidd’s team has a defensive performance rating of 22, their best defender betrayed Finney Smith, and they took a player from the worst defensive organization in the NBA. And throughout his career, all the coaches have tried their best to hide as the weakest link in the team’s defensive formations.

Can Dallas win on offense alone? In the playoffs? Did you get an obviously problematic player?

cleveland

Caves without LeBron are in the playoffs. And they have a pretty good chance to beat the first round. If they hold fourth place, and New York – fifth. The Clevelands didn’t have to change anything before their successful trade window closed. The team is young and equipped. It has high potential. But why not make a big splash this post-season?

The team has an outstanding (third in the NBA) defensive rating and is first in goals conceded. General manager Kobi Altman has long been spared from basketball player Kevin Love, who doesn’t know how to defend himself.

The team’s fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference and their record of wins against Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Miami will give the team the necessary confidence in the knockouts. So why not try to imagine the conference finale?

Miami

It looks like Pat Riley has made the most of the organisation’s available possibilities this time too – bolstering the team with Kevin Love (10 rebounds and 3 assists in 24 minutes in the team’s first two games). Attack “Hit” is sometimes only capable of stopping and no idea and points are earned with the help of super hard shots and individual skills of individual players. And this is not against the strongest teams. It’s often even harder to score points in the playoffs.

Add here the frequent damage done by Hirro, Lauri, Robinson, Oladipo, Butler. Bad form of the same Robinson who got a substantial contract and stopped playing. And based on that, how can I explain that Miami hasn’t made a single trade – what Pat Riley knows best how to do?

Eric Spoelstra hopes Bam Adebayo moves forward and Jimmy Butler improves his game every time post-season. But do the Heat have enough internal reserves to beat Boston or Milwaukee?

Los Angeles Lakers

Rob Pelinka did everything he could to support LeBron adequately at the end of his career, as he always promised. But couldn’t you have had more? For the best choice in draft.

The Lakers traded Russell Westbrook. The team developed quarterback D’Angelo Russell, shooter Malik Beasley and tall player Jarred Vanderbilt with the 2027 draft picks. Add in the signatures of Hachimura and Bamba, the progress of Reeves, and the solid performance of Schroeder and Walker and we have a good roster for the final phase of the season.

Can LeBron change the game in the playoffs after such a tough regular season (29.6 points per game)? Can Derwin Ham be an effective postseason manager? Will Anthony Davis “break” again? Will the playoff group be positive? And will the Lakers finally get there? If all goes well for LAL, then his dreams of a conference finale may be justified. But can so many factors come together at the same time?

“iron” contestants for conference finals

Memphis

The bears were traded for rotational sniper Luke Kennard. But their main center, Stephen Adams, was injured. And Memphis has a first-rate defensive performance rating at second-rate in the mighty Western Conference and third-rate in the league.

So the team is running but at the same time the team can defend itself. The team has an individually strong and confident leader – Ja Morent. They recently beat Denver and are very likely to take the top 2 spots in the regular season. This means they will get a more tired opponent from the qualifying tournament.

The Grizzlies’ defense looks more solid than any offense. However, Durant is already fitting in with the Suns and Golden State is 7th in the standings. But it might be a good test of the thesis: “Games are won on offense, but playoff series are won on defense.”

Los Angeles Clippers

The sailboats have perhaps the longest bench in the league. While everyone is healthy. Back to playing kawaii. And Mason Plumley, Eric Gordon and Bones Hyland seem like a significant improvement over the disappointing Wall, the vulnerable Kennard and the startless Jackson.

By the way, did you know that Russell Westbrook never left Los Angeles? Yes, he plays for the Clippers now and has already scored 17 points in his first game.

Much will depend on the health of the LAC leaders. And management tries to recruit top performers every year. And indeed: The team headed by Kawhi, Paul, and Ty (again) seem to be the Western Conference’s main favourites. But the truth is always somewhere in the middle. And the Clippers are always missing out to win the championship.

Philadelphia

Surprisingly, the top trading geniuses in the NBA missed this deadline in sync. Daryl Morey was embarrassed after Pat Riley. Fila’s needs are clear – strong support for Embid. It looks like Joel should continue to play more than 35 minutes per game and have the highest participation percentage on the team at 37%. Harden has 25% for comparison.

However, Maury was able to trade Taibull, who didn’t shoot three-pointers, for a top striker McDaniels from Charlotte for an expiring contract.

So, Philadelphia seems to be third in the East and the weakest organization among the tops of its conference. Can a tired Embid change the rules of the game? Or Harden will raise his performance to normal (from 21 to 31). Or will the Bucks and Celtics fail completely? Fulfilling each of these points will be reason enough for Philadelphia to advance to the conference finals. And it’s not that incredible.

denver

We should not forget that the teams in the top positions in the regular season experience constant failures in the play-offs. The Nuggets have it all: an elite manager, the MVP of the regular season, a completed roster, Murray is finally on the mend. Jokic’s backup appeared – Thomas Bryant. But Denver consistently fails in decisive matches. Will this season be an exception?

The team is on its way to winning the western conference and taking on the weakest/tired opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Second round? While Warriors and Suns remain between possible rivals, Jokic and company will not be able to sleep well. And for these two reasons, Denver stays one step away from the next stage of the rating.

The main contenders for the championship in the NBA

Phoenix

When a team that is elite yet still a role-playing basketball player picks up Kevin Durant, it immediately becomes a favorite for the championship chase. This could be an elite offensive combo with Booker. And Chris Paul might not worry about scoring for the team when the attack stops. And this season, the Phoenix offense has been performing pretty poorly throughout the league: 22nd in points scored and 16th in offensive efficiency.

What about statistics now? Durant in Arizona. Monty Williams’ team begins a new cycle. Most likely short term. Given Paul and Durant’s age. But in their entire history, the Suns have only been closer to the title by a 2-0 score in their favor in the 2021 final.

Although there were injured players in GSV at the time. Everyone is healthy now. This means that the champion is not the favourite, and we can expect the most interesting playoffs in recent years, when the number of teams at approximately the same level is greater than even the conference finals can accommodate.

Boston

Last year’s finalist changed coaches, but remains among the favorites of the NBA championship race. Also, the Celtics were looking for a tall man with a chance in the rotation. And I found this opposite Mike Muskala. This is the white man who played the fourth with a yawn and managed to keep the opponent’s defense tense for 20 minutes by converting 3-pointers by 40%.

In over three games with the new team, Muscala averages 13.3 points for every 25 minutes he plays on the field. Given the absence of such a position in the league and the result, this small trade could be key for Boston in its quest to win the finals of the world’s strongest league.

Thus, Joe Mezzalla’s team has the most balanced roster in the NBA. If Tatum, Brown and Horford stay healthy, the Celtics’ goal of breaking last season’s record looks very realistic.

golden state

Champions are not showing championship results this year. Steve Kerr’s team, which has been out of the playoffs all season, is laughing at the league like you can do whatever you want, and we’re going to ramp up in March and that will be enough to win the championship. And most importantly, it’s easy to believe.

Curry missed 23, Wiggins 24, Thompson 12, Greene 8 missed. Iguodala played three matches. The Warriors have squad issues. Most are reservists. But even that is enough for the team to have a positive win/lose balance in such a competitive West.

Perhaps their leader simply lost their motivation. But rest assured, Curry and Thompson will be more focused as the playoff atmosphere approaches. Don’t let the regular season numbers fool you. GSV is just one win away from a direct hit in the qualifiers, trading front desk helper Gerry Peyton II for Wiseman and Jonathan Cuminga knocking harder on the main rotation door (8.5 points for the season). The champions are back. And it will be interesting.

Milwaukee

Problems with composition and the main favorite of the East. Middleton has missed 39 games and is slowly getting in shape. Vacation – 11 matches and with it there is always a risk of injury. However, the team that Giannis plays for (32.3; 12.4; 5.4 average per game) automatically enters the pool of championship ring candidates.

Moreover, the Bucks eventually traded a defensive forward for Tucker. There was no such basketball player last year. This winter, Jay Crowder was taken, which allowed us to talk about the full completion of the roster.

This Milwaukee could win the NBA Finals. Provided that all team members are in the ranks. Giannis has never been stronger on either side of the court. And it has never had such a balanced and deep environment on its way to the championship.

Vyacheslav Shevchenko