Top 5 NBA teams that could win the championship

This year’s NBA post-season is one of the most interesting in recent memory with a number of teams showing they have what it takes to go all the way. Here is a look at the top five contenders for the title.

1.       Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have been the premier team throughout this NBA season with league leading offense and defence. Leading the team is recently crowned MVP Stephen Curry who has been near un-guardable particularly from beyond the arc. This could finally be the Warriors’ year if they can continue their incredible form deep into the postseason. They face stiff competition from rival Western conference in their road to the finals series – competition they have proven they can handle throughout the regular season. They were impressive in their series sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans and have begun their semi-final series against Memphis strongly with a 15-point win at home. The Warriors have had excellent home crowd support with New Orleans coach Monty Williams even suggesting that the noise inside Oracle Arena could even be above legal limitations.

2.     Cleveland Cavaliers

Despite the loss of star recruit Kevin Love to a shoulder injury for the rest of the year plus J.R. Smith for the first two games of the semi-finals to suspension, the Cavaliers are still the team to beat in the Eastern conference. Led by the world’s best player in LeBron James, the Cavaliers still have plenty of firepower for opposition teams to deal with. The loss of Kevin Love will definitely hurt however due to his ability to space the floor which allows more room for James and guard Kyrie Irving to drive into the lane for easy points as well as his outstanding ability to rebound and make his catch-and-shoot three pointers. Cleveland will have a tough time filling Love’s place in their game plan but will no doubt continue to be hard to beat if James and Irving can fire.

3.      Houston Rockets

The Rockets have continued to play well with James Harden leading the way, disposing of the Dallas Mavericks in their recent series four games to one. The return of Dwight Howard has bolstered a Rockets team already playing good basketball. Houston has gone one step further this year than their previous two seasons where they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and will be looking to continue their good form in their upcoming series with the Clippers. Despite losing starting point guard Patrick Beverley to season-ending surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist, the Rockets were impressive in their series against the Mavericks and look to be in good shape to make a run to the finals.

4.      Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers showed doubters they really are a team to be reckoned with, knocking off 2013/14 champions the San Antonio Spurs in a compelling series that went right down to the wire. The team has plenty of star power in Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin leading the charge with Griffin scoring a triple-double and Paul making the game-winning shot with one second remaining in the final game of their series with the Spurs. Coach Doc Rivers has done an excellent job of turning the Clippers from a team known predominantly for connecting with a ridiculous number of ‘alley-oops’  to one that can make a real play at winning the championship.

5.       Atlanta Hawks

Although the Hawks finished the season on top of the Eastern conference table, they failed to continue their early season form which led to them being considered big-time championship contenders. Despite this, the Hawks finished their series with the Brooklyn Nets strongly with a 24-point win, taking out the series four games to two. The Hawks appeared to struggle at times throughout the series, though, and face tough two tough teams in the Washington Wizards (who are fresh of a series sweep of the Toronto Raptors) and either the Chicago Bulls or Cleveland Cavaliers should they win their semi-final series. The Hawks have shown that they can match it with the best teams in the league at times throughout the season and now have a chance to prove they are the real deal.