4. Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers sit atop the Eastern Conference at the moment, but there’s a good chance by the end of the season this team will be looking up at the Brooklyn Nets. That said, I don’t know if there’s another team in the East that will be able to match up talent-wise with the Nets as well as a Sixers can.
Whether Philadelphia can ultimately beat Brooklyn in a seven-game series is beyond me and there’s no way we could tell that right now, but there’s no question that I’ll be looking forward to that match-up if we get it in the playoffs.
3. LA Clippers
The LA Clippers are another team that continues to coast to the regular season and has somewhat been out of the limelight due to the excellent play of the Utah Jazz and the star power of the Los Angeles Lakers. Still, the Clippers might end up being the biggest threat to the Lakers from a potential repeat.
If the Clippers can get to the playoffs healthy, I’m not sure there’s another team in the West that will be able to give the Lakers all they can handle any potential playoff series.