3 Real Title Contenders in Each Conference

(Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty)

The parity of the 2020-21 NBA Season has been in greatest benefit. Up and coming teams like the Knicks, Hawks, Grizzlies, and Suns have taken a step up into Playoff lock status. More established clubs like the Lakers, Celtics, Pacers, and Heat have all disappointed throughout the year. Whether it was Covid-19 restrictions, normal injuries, or the hangover from a shortened offseason, the wear and tare on clubs has shown itself to be apparent down the stretch. With that being said, it seems like there is new blood to the NBA Playoffs. The newly established NBA Play-In Tournament has made the end of the season matter for over half of the teams in the NBA. Previously, the end of the season didn’t matter for over half the league and the only ones concerned with Playoff seeding had already locked up a spot weeks ago. This new Play-In Tournament allows 10 teams from each conference the chance at the Postseason. This new wrinkle, along with this NBA season being one of the weirder in recent memory, has provided each conference with more to choose from. So, who is actually elite in each conference?

Eastern Conference:

Philadelphia 76ers:

(Suzanne Greenburg/Getty)

The 76ers are maybe the least talked about #1 seed in recent memory. They have been consistently great this season under new Head Coach Doc Rivers. Rivers’ ability to keep Embiid in the post and Sixers General Manager Daryl Morey’s ability to surround Embiid with shooters has opened up the floor for the big man and the rest of the squad. Embiid is leading the 76ers while having an MVP caliber season. He is averaging 29 points and 10 rebounds on the season, while also shooting career highs from the field and from 3. Philly’s Robin, Ben Simmons, is having himself a Defensive Player of the Year campaign on the other side of the ball. Simmons has shown himself to be the most switchable defender in basketball with his ability to truly guard 1-5. The Sixers captured the #1 seed early in the year and have held onto it since. Whether they finish with it shouldn’t matter in the long run. Philly’s 2nd ranked defense and the shooting of new additions Danny Green and Seth Curry, along with 2nd year guard Shake Milton, has given the Sixers flexibility on both sides of the ball. Philly has flamed out in the Playoff in recent years, but this is the best team we have seen in The City of Brotherly Love since AI was running the Point. They are definitely a favorite to make it out of the East.

Brooklyn Nets:

(Jason Miller/Getty)

Everybody and their mom are picking the Nets to make it out of the East and win in the NBA Finals. With the roster GM Sean Marks has been able to build over the last year, this should come as a surprise to no one. The Nets are one of the superest super teams of All-Time. A starting five containing Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant should make any team shake in their boots. Brooklyn is 2nd in the East and will finish no lower than 3rd. Their offense is, obviously, #1 in the NBA in efficiency. Their offensive rating, a metric of a team's offensive numbers per 100 possessions, is amongst the greatest of all time at 118.2. Kyrie Irving is having the best season of his career averaging 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 40% from deep. And he’s their third option! James Harden is having another historically great offensive season and Kevin Durant is still a Top 3 player in the sport. The Nets have also proved to be a deep team with a bench ranked 2nd in the NBA in scoring per game. Guys like Blake Griffin and Landry Shamet have been big for Brooklyn off the pine. The Nets are the favorites for the NBA Title. They have been all year and they still are now.

Milwaukee Bucks:

(theathletic.com)

Everybody is sleeping on the Bucks. Milwaukee upped their fire power in the offseason by adding All-Star Jrue Holiday to bolster their backcourt. Holiday is a former All-Star and a consistent 20ish PPG scorer. He is also one of the best on-ball defenders in the sport with 2 All-Defensive Team trophies to prove it. Holiday joins a Bucks team who were the favorites to make the Finals last year. A Bucks team still loaded with the sharpshooting All-Star Khris Middleton and the Back-to-Back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. This year’s Bucks team is a lot like the Bucks teams of the past few years. Either let Giannis drive and be massive or shoot the 3-ball. Giannis has done his part with being massive. He is averaging 28 PPG while ripping down 11 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists per night. He is having another MVP caliber year, but he won’t get it due to voter fatigue and Jokic playing like Prime Bird. Milwaukee has also done their part by knocking down 3s and scoring points. Their offense ranks 6th in efficiency and 1st in PPG. The Bucks also rank 2nd in team 3 point percentage at 39%. Milwaukee, like Philly, has flamed out in consecutive Playoffs. They are being slept on because they’ve done this before. The past two seasons Giannis has played out of his mind, the Bucks have hit a ton of 3s, and they’ve won a lot of regular season games. This year, nobody is paying attention until the Playoffs. But if you pay attention for long enough, you’ll realize this team is still a real threat to make it to their first NBA Finals since 1974.

Western Conference:

Los Angeles Lakers:

(Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty)

Are we really going to count out the defending champions and LeBron James? Really? LA has been struggling since a slew of injuries took an axe to their star power and leadership. LA has 2 Top 10 Players in the sport on their team in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Both men have missed significant time near the tail end of the season. Their injury time overlapped and both men were out long term. Over the course of Davis and James being out, the Lakers dropped from a comfortable spot in 3rd to 7th. This means if the Playoffs started right now, LeBron and the Lakers would be fighting for their lives in the Play-In Tournament. The same Play-In that James publicly criticized not too long ago. But lets be real, the only people talking crap about the Play-In are the teams in it. Like, all these teams voted to approve this thing twice already. I digress. Even if the Lakers are the 10th seed, they are still the most dangerous team in the Western Conference. Stats are really not needed to make my case here. They have LeBron and AD, who already proved to be more than enough to win the Finals last season. Their bench has improved with the addition of Andre Drummond and the growth of 2nd year swingman Talen Horton-Tucker. They also added Dennis Schroder, and I think Kuzma is still around there somewhere. If the Lakers are at full strength come Playoff time, it would be stupid to not have confidence in the Defending Champs.

Utah Jazz:

(si.com)

The Utah Jazz are awesome! They’ve been awesome all year! The Jazz have taken a leap into contender status after retaining the same team for the past few years. The emergence of Jordan Clarkson as a 6th Man of the Year Candidate, as well as the shooting of Bojan Bogdanovic has propelled Utah to the #1 spot in the West. Utah’s stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are also balling out. Mitchell looks more and more like a modern shooting DWade every year. He is averaging a career high in points, rebounds, and assists while leading the Jazz to the 2nd ranked offense in basketball. Defensive anchor Rudy Gobert is well on his way to a 3rd Defensive Player of the Year Award while leading the Utah defense to a #4 ranking in the league. Utah's balance has been their biggest asset. They have zero weaknesses on either side of the ball. The offense is taken care of by Mitchell, Bogdanovic, Clarkson, and Mike Conley. The defensive is covered by Gobert, Royce O’Neale, Derrick Favors, and, again, Mike Conley. In a year of newly formed super teams and fatigued Title favorites, Utah’s continuity and depth have come to the forefront. If they can remain healthy, the Jazz are the biggest sleeper to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Los Angeles Clippers:

(Fox Sports)

The Clippers are the Bucks of the West. Everybody knows they are good, but their performance in last year’s Playoffs has nullified any interest in their current regular season success. Last year, the Clippers were everyone’s fresh new girlfriend. They were the talk of the town following the signing of Kawhi Leonard. And they should’ve been! Kawhi had just muscled Toronto to their first ever Championship and the Clippers somehow got Paul George to leave the bright lights of Oklahoma City. They were one of the best and deepest teams the entire regular season, but completely collapsed in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. LAC was up 3-1 on the Denver Nuggets before playing possibly their 3 worst games all season and being knocked out of the running. This is why nobody really cares that they are again one of the best and deepest teams in the League. Leonard and George, sounds like a fire law firm, have reminded everyone they are two of the best two-way players in the league. New Head Coach Tyronn Lue has played a more open and free style of basketball than his predecessor Doc Rivers. Lue has the Clippers offense sitting at 3rd in the NBA. Despite losing key bench players like Montrezl Harrel and Lou Williams, LA has replaced them nicely with Luke Kennard, Rajon Rondo, and Nicholas Batum. A less rigid style of play, along with a lot less in-house turmoil, might be enough for LA to avoid another Playoff meltdown. They are currently 3rd in the West and should be the favorite over mostly everyone in a 7 game series.