There aren’t too many teams that Portland should feel confident beating 4/7 in the playoffs. I can’t think of any.
You overrate MIN, SAS, and OKC. And you underrate us. I agree with you that OKC should be better than they currently are. But I'd group the teams you mentioned thusly (no particular order within each group): GS HOU SAS* OKC POR MIN UTH MEM NOP DEN *There are only two reasons SAS could be bumped up to Top Tier: 1) Pops and 2) Kawhi. Other than that, they're a mid-tier team at best.
If I were LeBron, I'd definitely have Philly on my short list. Can you imagine him, Simmons and Embiid on the same team? The only reason he hesitates (besides him wanting to go to LA) is because it probably makes it harder to go for Kareem's scoring record. Like Durant in GS, he'd see his average dip a solid 5ppg. But geez, can you imagine his legacy if he brought titles to three different teams, beating Golden State twice.
Yeah, all they have to do is get hot and win 10 in a row. That's a great plan and sounds so easy. I think we should do that, too! You sure you want to take credit for that? BNM
The next 10 for OKC are as follows. Dec 1st, vs Minn. Dec 3rd, @ San Antonio. Dec 5th, vs Utah. Dec 7th, @ Nets. Dec 9th, @ Memphis. Dec 11th, vs Charlotte. Dec 13th, @ Indiana. Dec 15th, @ Philly. Dec 16th, @ NYK. Dec 18th, vs Denver. Winning their next 10... Spoiler
Golden State and Boston don't feel like winnable games to me, but no team truly scares me. 7-minute scoring droughts are our worst enemy so far. San Antonio and the 3rd seed are totally up for grabs; San Antonio has had as easy a schedule as we've had, and their Margin of Victory is similar. I feel like we're on their level entirely. We have the 3rd best SRS in the west (Houston and Golden State are well above everyone, then a bunch of Eastern Conference teams, then us), so we should try to get and hold the 3rd seed as long as we can.
The current iteration of the Spurs, yes. They are mediocre. But they'll probably get Kawhi back in the next month or two. Ain't nobody scared of Aldridge - he can have fun leading the Spurs to wins over the hapless Mavs, but Kawhi is an actual difference-maker.
In the next month or two we'll be near the All Star Break... let's see if we've built up a lead over them by then. I know our schedule gets tougher as it goes along but we will too.
Golden State, Cavs, Bos are going to be hard to beat in a series. Golden State for the slow start is going to get their engines going and become dominate like last year. The Cavs are suffering a lot of injuries, but they gave found winning ways....they may very well be beatable in a series, but any team with both both Lebron and Wade shouldnt be taken lightly. The Celtics have suprised me the most of any team...I thought for sure aftef seeing Haywards leg and foot bend in unbendable directions that their season was over...but damn their youngs are stepping up and Kyrie has new life in Boston. Houston doesn't bother me. They are 1st in the west yeah I'll give them that. But, I think they are beatable in a series. The Spurs are always good, but they getting old and Lamartha will stop them from succeeding. Pops will be retiring soon...the spurs days are numbered and they aren't who they used to be. The Blazers can beat them in a series. OKC sucks, its not working out, Westbrick is too selfish, Carmelo doesn't care, and Paul is thinking about free agency next summer...if they make the playoffs and somehow play the Blazers, they can be beaten. I don't fear Minny. They are young and inexperienced, especially playoff wise. They haven't even been in the playoffs since KG. The Bucks and the Sixers are both young teams with tons of talent and chemistry. Watch out for and don't underestimate them.
