3. LA Clippers
Once the LA Clippers got comfortable and rolling after the acquisition of James Harden, they've consistently been one of the best teams in the league. Russell Westbrook is expected to be back before the end of the regular season and barring another setback, the Clippers are likely going to enter the playoffs healthy for just the second time in the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era. The last time that happened, they made a deep run to the conference finals.
If the Clippers were to make it out of the West and face the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, you'd have to like this matchup for LA. They have the two strong wings to match up with Boston's with PG and Kawhi. They also have a dynamic guard to keep the pressure on Jrue Holiday with Harden. Throw in Westbrook off the bench and it's easy to see why the Clippers could make life difficult for the Celtics in a potential NBA Finals series.
The big question is whether the Clippers would have enough depth to keep pace with Boston. Quite frankly, that could end up being the difference between these two teams. But to say the Clippers aren't one of the biggest threats to the Celtics would be dubious.