If I had to pick the team in the East and West that had the most championship challenges. In the West, I would still choose the defending champion Denver Nuggets for the following reasons: the roster is well matched, the core players have no major injury history, and the core players are still in their prime. Compared with the thunder, they are more sophisticated. They are healthier than the faster boats. Murray on the outside, Gordon on the inside, and a comprehensive teacher are their biggest capital.
In the East, I'd vote for the Boston Celtics. So far this season, the record has moved to 41-12, four wins better than the second-place Cavaliers in the East. If there are no major injuries, the Celtics will continue to stay first in the East until the end of the regular season. As the only team in the league with a 70% win rate, there's a reason why they've been successful.
They have a double tanhua as the core of the attack, with defensive gate Zhu Ge on the outside, Porzingis on the inside, and Derrick White who is a quasi-All-Star. Even if the double tanhua pulls his hips as usual in the playoffs, there can be someone who can pull the bottom. Coupled with Mazzulla's lineup and quality role players like Hauser and Keta on the bench, the Celtics are guaranteed to be in the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
After talking about the championship, we are talking about the pseudo-strong team. I used to think that it was the 76ers with a healthy Embiid, after all, without Embiid, the 76ers are not a strong team at all. Now, it's time to turn your attention to the Milwaukee Bucks. To be honest, it is a strange thing that the management fired Coach Adrian Griffin, who led the team to the second record in the East, and instead praised the "essence of human reversal" Rivers Sr. to the stage.
Although Lao Li is indeed a champion coach, his failure is far greater than his success. I've been in charge of the Bucks for a while now, and the Bucks' record during that time has been quite average. Now there are only 2 wins and 5 losses, even if you can't beat the Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Suns, even the Trail Blazers can lose, I'm afraid Bucks fans will cry!
The core brother of the Bucks, although he can score 30.7 points, 11.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists this season, which can be regarded as MVP-level data, his shortcomings will be infinitely magnified in the playoffs. His shooting ability, for example, hasn't improved in years. With a 25% three-point shooting rate and a 66% free throw shooting rate, if it comes to the playoffs, other teams can resolutely empty his outside line and pinch him as soon as he holds the ball to the inside. Either Brother Alphabet comfortably shoots, or put the ball in the pile.
Last year's Heat did just that, allowing the Bucks, the favorites to fall in the first round. That's why Bucks management is sticking to Lillard this summer. They just want Brother Alphabet to have one more guard who can play key shots when he is caught in the playoffs.
But can Lillard really do it? A lot of people will compare Lillard to Curry, but in my opinion, the two are completely incomparable. One is in the top 10 of all time, and the other has never proven himself in the playoffs. Lillard is known as the big cousin, but his performance this season has not been good, although he has had a stunner, but sometimes super ghost performance, also makes many people not optimistic about his future in the Bucks, Lillard's three-point shooting rate of 34.5%, only ranked 137th in the league. The Bucks are the most overrated team, from coaches to players!