NBA Playoff Schedule 2012: Teams with Easiest Roads to the Championship

The road to the NBA championship begins in a few days as 16 different teams look to make the long journey to the promised land in order to lift the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in the air after the last postseason game comes to an end.

Unfortunately, the road to a title isn't the same for everyone as some teams will face a much easier path to the NBA Finals.

Here's a quick look at those teams with the easiest paths to a championship.

Chicago Bulls

This is assuming that the Bulls remain the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the New York Knicks stay at the No. 7 seed. That's not saying the Bulls couldn't beat the Knicks in a playoff series, but potential early-round series against Philadelphia and Boston beat having to play New York and Indiana.

Of course, it gets tougher after that with the potential of the Miami Heat and the NBA Finals ahead of them, but the Bulls should have one of the easier paths to a title.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs have their eye on the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and if they can claim that, Gregg Popovich's bunch will be looking at a first-round series against Phoenix and a second-round series of either the Los Angeles Clippers or Memphis Grizzlies.

On the season, San Antonio is an impressive 8-1 against the the three teams combined.

Miami Heat

Everyone has their eyes on a possible Miami vs. Chicago Eastern Conference Finals matchup and while the path of the Heat reaching that point looks tough on paper, Miami went 3-0 against the Knicks and 3-1 against Indiana on the season.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant and Co. would like the No. 1 seed in the West, but if they have to settle for the No. 2, then the path to the Western Conference Finals shouldn't be too bad.

The Thunder are 6-1 on the season against the trio of Denver (who they would play in the first round if the playoffs started today), Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers, who OKC would face the winner of that opening-round series.