Now more than ever, the NBA competitive nature is at an all-time high.
NBA Drama Continues
After four straight years of the competition level in the NBA being narrowed down to two teams: The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. The NBA as of late has shown the potential to have grown from these times. NBA fans should be more intrigued at the parity level of today’s’ NBA. Aside from the scoring aspect of the game, the NBA has opened up as it relates to which teams are guaranteed a ticket to the NBA Finals in June. The change began to take place once LeBron James took his talents to Los Angeles. With the move, this helped the eastern conference, as James made it to 9 straight NBA Finals. To many fans surprise James hasn’t had an easy road in the west. Leaving many people to ponder if he will keep the title of King.
The Trade Deadline Was All About Davis
There was the Anthony Davis trade before the February 7th trade deadline when the New Orleans Pelicans decided to hold on to Anthony Davis till the offseason. It was a smart move for the Pelicans to hold on to Davis to see what other deals are out there, but if the Pels aren’t able to finalize a deal with a team for Davis before the summer of 2020, then the Pels will likely lose Davis for nothing. As a fan of the Pelicans and Lakers, the Davis drama is a stressful time, but for the typical viewer that watches the NBA for old-school competition, it’s a positive step in the right direction for the NBA. With the current state of the NBA, parity is on its way back, if not already here, and the years of one or two teams dominating the league is coming to a close.
NBA Eastern Conference
In the east you have the Milwaukee Bucks; a team that put up a fight against the Celtics last spring — in a hard fought 7-game series, which resulted in the Celtics moving on to the next round, and saw the Bucks go home early, now has the best record in the Eastern Conference, along with an M.V.P season from “The Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is averaging 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists, on 58 percent shooting from the field. He’s led the Bucks to an eastern conference best of 47-14. The Boston Celtics, who many at the beginning of the season had to dominate the east,; a team that was LeBron’s toughest obstacle last season in the east, has been less than impressed with a current losing streak of 4 games, and a record of 37-25. In the west, the Warriors are still at the top, but in analyzing the Warriors competition level. The Rockets and Nuggets have had major success against the Warriors this season. Golden State could be looking at their toughest run to the NBA Finals in team history.
NBA Western Conference
The Rockets are 3-0 against the Golden State Warriors this season. Furthermore too of those three losses on the Warriors home floor of Oracle. The Denver Nuggets back on October 21, 2018 defeated the Warriors 100-98, to move to 3-0 on the season, which was the best record in the west at that time, but on Jan 16th the Warriors returned the favor in blowout fashion with a 142-111 victory; a game which was a battle for the number 1 seed. The two teams split the season series so far, but the Nuggets are currently just a half game behind the Warriors (43-18). Denver is still in the race for the number 1 seed in the western conference at (42-18). The Los Angeles Lakers are 10th in the west. LeBron James is at risk of snapping his streak of nine straight NBA Finals. He is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The Lakers are (30-31), four games behind the 8th seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
So the NBA has taken NBA fans on an unpredictable rollercoaster this season. Now the question is will parity produce the same ratings as it did when LeBron James was expected to be the NBA Playoff and NBA Finals attraction for the last nine seasons?
There’s still four months of basketball to find this out. Who will come out of the West? Will the Lakers make the playoffs?
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