NBA Playoffs 2012 Predictions: Teams That Will Get to Conference Championships

There are only a few dominant NBA teams that have what it takes to get to the 2012 Conference Championship stage of the playoffs.

Most teams who have made it into the tournament have fatal flaws that will ultimately doom them to fizzle out and lose.

Here are the four teams who will make it to the Eastern and Western Conference Championships.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls aren't going to light up the scoreboard every night, but they know how to defend the ball and they move the ball well on the offensive end of the floor. 

That's a deadly combination in the playoffs.

The regular season is full of games where fast breaks run rampant. Once teams enter the playoffs, things slow down significantly. 

You must be able to operate within your half-court sets, and no team in the East does it better than the Bulls.

Derrick Rose is starting to look healthy again for the fist time in ages, too, making the Bulls the heavy favorites to end up in the Conference Finals.

Miami Heat

We're in for another Heat vs. Bulls Eastern Conference Finals showdown.

Per ESPN, the Heat are ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring and fourth in the NBA at stopping opponents from scoring.

Despite the fact that they don't have many scorers outside of their big three, they will fight tooth and nail to win on the defensive end—something I admire in the playoffs.

LeBron James and Dwayne Wade still need to figure out who's in charge out there on the court, but they will definitely make their way through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

San Antonio Spurs

When I watch the Spurs play these days, I don't see anything new. They are the same team they were five years ago, and Tim Duncan still looks like he's 25 out there on the court.

Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the NBA now that Phil Jackson's no longer with the Lakers, and he has his team clicking on all cylinders right now.

Their greatest asset is their deep bench. On any given night, they have five different players who could be their leading scorer.

Tony Parker is going to be the catalyst for their playoff run, and since he's at the top of his game, I don't expect to see them lose many games on their way to the Western Conference Finals.

Los Angeles Lakers

Many folks believe this is the year that the Oklahoma City Thunder are ready to get to the finals. They won't beat the Lakers in the Conference Semifinals, though, as they need at least one more year of experience to overcome Kobe Bryant's squad.

Bryant is still the best player in basketball. At the tender age of 33, he still looks like he can play for another five years.

He always steps his game up in the playoffs, and now that the Thunder are starting to play like champions, I expect to see his competitive nature completely take over in the playoffs.

He won't do it alone, though. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum can be downright dominant on the interior for the Lakers at times. The two of them need to continue playing well together for the Lakers to make another championship push.

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