As the NBA playoffs begin this weekend, Jeff Cheshire takes a look at which teams and players to keep an eye on.
Western Conference
Teams to watch
Houston Rockets
Indisputably the best team of the regular season, the Rockets play modern basketball better than anyone else. That means lots of threes and finishing at the rim, with not much in between. It has proved efficient and their range of threats and good spacing make them tough to contain on offence.
Golden State Warriors
Not quite as dominant as in past years, but still have every chance of defending their title. Have four genuine superstars — most notably long swingman Kevin Durant — and score the ball better than any team in the league. Stephen Curry will miss the first round, but should be back for crunch time.
Player to watch
James Harden (Houston Rockets)
One of the best one-on-one scorers around, while also adept at causing the defensive help to over-commit and then finding the open man created by that space. Arguably the front-runner for the most valuable player award this season and the biggest reason the Rockets enter the playoffs with the league’s best record.
Eastern Conference
Teams to watch
Toronto Raptors
The top seeds in the east, the Raptors boast one of the league’s top backcourts in Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. They also have depth and have proved tough to beat at home, which makes their No1 seeding all the more important.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Write the Cavs off at your peril. LeBron James remains the best player in the world and arguably the best all-round player in the game’s history. The team has been a bit up and down this season, although it has hit form of late. James brings an unprecedented amount of experience in aiming for his eighth consecutive NBA finals.
Player to watch
Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)
We all know LeBron will be great, but this youngster from Australia will be key to whether Philadelphia can make a genuine run. A do-everything 2.08m (6ft 10in) point guard, Simmons has combined with Joel Embiid to lead the 76ers on a 14-match win streak heading into the playoffs.
Finals prediction
Golden State v Cleveland
This is not the obvious pick as it has been the past three years, but it is tough to write off either team. The Warriors will draw on their experience and multitude of threats to edge the Rockets, while James will step it up for the playoffs and carry the Cavs through. From there the Warriors’ range of threats will be too much — they get it in six.
