NBA's Triangle of Power: Boston, Florida and Los Angeles
And I ain't talking about the Clippers. Although they have the talent to make the playoffs in the tough NBA Western Conference.
What was lost in this bonanza of the summer of free agency is that the LA Lakers are the two-time defending NBA champs. Miami did make history with their acquisitions of Mike Miller and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, among others (wink wink), but can they coalesce to become a team?
That is the biggest question that I see for this NBA season. The addition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play along side Dwyane Wade makes Miami by far the best team on paper but as Kenny Mayne once said:
"Games are not played on paper, they are played inside of TV sets."
The second biggest question is when does Pat Riley force Eric Spolstra to have "family problems?"
The triangle of power in the NBA starts with the Los Angeles Lakers and their superstar Kobe Bryant. The return of Phil Jackson as coach and guru was another a pivotal offseason move. The Lakers are the best team in the NBA and if they do not make it to the Finals again then that will be a huge upset.
Having said that, there are 11 teams in the West that are competing for the 8 playoff spots. It would be easier to name the teams not in the western playoff hunt (Golden State, Sacramento, New Orleans, Minnesota). It would be more fun, however, to predict and slot the eight teams that will come out of the rugged regular season in the West:
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. Utah Jazz
5. San Antonio Spurs
6. Phoenix Suns
7. Los Angeles Clippers
8. Portland Trail Blazers
Sorry Portland, Memphis and Houston, you are just good enough to not make the playoffs.
Now the East is not as tough. In fact, the five through eight seeds will be fodder for the top four seeds. The perennial four seed, Atlanta Hawks, do not have a shot to make it out of the second round as usual.
The triangle of power in the NBA goes east from the Lakers to the Boston Celtics. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are in their fourth year together. Rajon Rondo is an emerging superstar as well. This team was thought to be too old last year (and adding the statue-esque Shaquille O'Neal did not make them any younger) yet they were a few made field goals away from winning the NBA title in LA.
From Boston, the triangle of power goes south to Florida where the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat are located.
There are four teams that have a legitimate shot to win the championship this year. Miami can be penciled into the East Finals and if they get the one seed then they will have to play either the Magic or the Celtics.
The Celtics are simply too old to push all year long for the one seed so the Heat only have the Magic as an obstacle for the one seed. It might be a year long battle and it will make the NBA regular season worth watching.
The Miami Heat will also make a great villain this year and if they can get it all together then they will make a deep run in the playoffs.
Everyone would love to see a LeBron vs. Kobe NBA Finals and it might finally come to fruition this year. The Lakers actually might want that more than anyone else. It is nice to beat the Celtics but taking down the Miami Heat would be even better.
This is the year to beat the Heat because in the 2011-2012 season, well, they will be unstoppable.
