It’s that time of year again. NBA basketball is finally back in season starting tonight with a matchup between the two-time defending champion Miami Heat and the finally health-restored Chicago Bulls.
The question on everyone’s mind heading into this season is, “can anyone stop the Miami Heat from winning a third straight NBA title?” There are a couple of different teams that might threaten the Heat’s chances at a third straight title.
The first two threats to the Heat can be seen in the Western Conference. First is the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers have been getting better every year and pressing for the title in the Western Conference. With the addition of a couple of solid 3-point shooters and Doc Rivers as head coach, the Clippers should be a team to look out for.
The next team of course is the team that fell just short in the NBA championship against the Heat this past year, the San Antonio Spurs. While it is true that the Spurs are aging, it doesn’t seem to be slowing down Tony Parker or Manu Ginobli. Besides, as long as Gregg Popovich is the head coach, you can never fully count out the Spurs.
Moving over to the Eastern Conference, it would be pretty easy to say that the Chicago Bulls pose a decent threat to the Heat. With a healthy Derrick Rose for the first time in almost two years, the Bulls should be able to close games out better than they did last year and find themselves pushing up at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The other big threat to the Heat in the East would have to be the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are a young, close knit team that now has a solid amount of playoff experience after pushing the Miami Heat to a 7-game series in the Eastern Conference finals. With that young experience, the Pacers should be a big threat for years to come.
No matter who decides to emerge in the NBA this year, we can be sure we will see some great basketball this year.