NBA Playoffs 2012: Miami Heat and Other Teams with Easy Road to NBA Title

Can anyone stop the Miami Heat from reaching (or winning) the NBA Finals? The way these playoffs are shaping up, perhaps not.

Miami is a lock to win its first-round series, if you can really call this "winning." Sure, they'll make it to the Eastern Conference semifinals easily enough, and that's the point—it will have more to do with the New York Knicks' perpetual implosion than anything truly resembling victory.

Life won't get much harder for the Heat anytime soon, though. Whatever karma this team deserves for its transgressions against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors, it isn't showing its face in this postseason.

The second round will feature either the Indiana Pacers or Orlando Magic, and we can all guess how either of those scenarios will go down. Really, we don't even have to guess.

Miami will face some difficulty eventually, though—either in the Conference Finals against the Celtics or in the NBA Finals against a team like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder or Los Angeles Lakers.

The cakewalk might not last forever, but the Heat will take it. And they're not alone.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs have arguably the easiest first-round opponent in the playoffs not named the Orlando Magic. Should they make it to the Semifinals as expected, life will get a bit harder.

Still, neither the Los Angeles Clippers nor the Memphis Grizzlies appear poised to give San Antonio much trouble. The Spurs handled both teams ably in the regular season, and chances are Gregg Popovich's club will be the more well-rested team in the second round.

It's a bit more difficult to know who San Antonio might face in the Conference Finals, and that's precisely because the teams in that other bracket have it a lot harder.

The Thunder may be the favorites for now, but they still have to finish off the Dallas Mavericks (which has proven to be anything but easy). After that, Oklahoma City would likely have to play the Los Angeles Lakers.

When compared to that kind of itinerary, the Spurs have it easy.

Boston Celtics

With the Celtics already in a 1-0 hole to the Atlanta Hawks, it might sound a little ridiculous to call Boston's path to the Finals "easy"—especially with the Miami Heat standing in the way.

Nevertheless, Boston's life got a whole lot easier when Derrick Rose went down with a torn ACL. If the Celtics can get past the Hawks, they'll either face the wounded Bulls or the Philadelphia 76ers. In either scenario, Boston has to be the favorite. A series against Chicago might be closer than expected, but it should be a manageable challenge as second-round series go.

Of course, that's when the holiday ends.

If Boston makes it all the way to the Conference Finals, it will have its hands full with Miami. The only silver lining is that Doc Rivers' veteran team looked as good against the Heat as anyone did this year, winning three meetings in April (although one of those games didn't really matter on account of the stars getting a night off).