This will be just the second time since 1996 that none of the Cavs, Celtics, Heat, Lakers, Spurs, or Warriors are in the Conference Finals. For the first time in NBA history, there will be seven different champions in seven straight years. In contrast, those six teams mentioned above have won an astounding 51 of the league’s 78 total titles (not including the NBA Cup, lol).
The NBA’s crackdown on super-teams, combined with their relative lack of success, has the NBA at its most interesting in a long time. With talent spread out, most any team can quickly become a contender with the right moves and a little luck. Small-market franchises, still never cool enough for some, are no longer shut out of the story.
In other words, the NBA is finding its sweet spot: Achieving enough parity to keep the majority of fan bases interested while dominating sports media with talk about which superstar will move to which big market next. Even if a super-team is assembled, it’s not likely to last more than a couple of years, at which point the cycle starts anew.
Even if your team trades away a once-in-a-lifetime beloved talent in a felonious backroom deal, you might still get the first pick in a draft with the best American prospect since LeBron James. For all the teams already out, their fans know they're just a move or two away from winning it all next year. And that’s a fantastic feeling.
The Cavs, on the other hand, should not be feeling fantastic right now. That may have been the most underwhelming performance since Shedeur Sanders at the NFL Draft. Questions were raised about toughness and the will to win, but the Cavs failed on all accounts. A historic collapse in a Game Two they had put away, and Cleveland never recovered. The team needed this loss and what it exposed burned into their memories if they ever want to be taken seriously.
All credit to the young n’ gun Pacers, though, who’ll be making their second consecutive trip to the East Finals. They’ve obviously figured out the right playoff mentality and will be playing spoiler versus America’s newest darlings, the New York Knicks. The NBA has been waiting for the Knicks to be this good for decades. Basketball is just better when the most passionate fan base in the league has a legit shot at everlasting glory.
The Knicks made four Eastern Conference Finals in the 90s, winning two of them. No coincidence that the NBA had its highest ratings on record that decade. Three of those appearances were against Indiana and old friend Reggie Miller, who will be calling each game in this series. The Pacers finished the season with the league’s fourth-best record since January 1st (the Knicks were 13th). With how well they’re playing, they should be a bigger challenge than Boston.
This series has the makings of an all-time classic. Even the casuals might recall that the Pacers sent the Knicks packing in a much-anticipated Game 7 last year. Indiana has been playing the better basketball lately, but hasn’t faced a team as tough and feisty as NYC. These teams match up well, and the key will be how much the Knicks' D can stifle a Pacers squad that has been running teams off the court. I feel it’s inevitable that this series goes down to the wire.
Indiana was in this spot last year, and while they were swept by the eventual champion Celtics, three of those games were very close. They should not be counted out, and I’m a little surprised they’re not the favorite. But when your team’s Legends Row can be mistaken for a Wu-Tang Clan reunion (Stephon Marbury is definitely ODB), I have no choice but to pick the Knicks in 7.
I see the West as less competitive because of how impressive Oklahoma City has been all year. They have too much depth and defensive acumen to let the TWolves do what they did to the Lakers and Warriors. Anthony Edwards may have vanquished the two biggest stars of the past decade, but Chet Holmgren is a task too tall for even him.
The Thunder had one of the best regular seasons in NBA history, and the knock against them was their inexperience and untested playoff mettle. I think the Nuggets series was the gut-check close call they needed to find their championship level. This does not bode well for anyone going up against them.
OKC may finally make up for not offering James Harden the extra $4.5 million he wanted in 2012, effectively breaking up a potential dynasty. After netting 11 first-round picks plus SGA by trading away Paul George and Russell Westbrook in 2019, OKC is on the cusp of winning the first title in franchise history (the Sonics belong to Seattle). Maybe that means Kevin Durant comes back next year.
I know the masses want Anthony Edwards reminding them of Jordan at Madison Square Garden, but I think Minnesota is at least a key piece away from reaching that level. I think the Thunder take care of them in 5 or 6 and coast to the Finals. They’re the best remaining team with the likely MVP winner, and I still don’t see anyone taking them down.