It's no secret the Lakers and Cavs are the two best teams. Which team has the best chance of getting knocked off? By who and why?

Lakers. Bynum does not seem right and Denver appears to be rolling.

^ Agreed, East is banged up right now. Lakers have the tougher road

Realistically I only see one threat to each team. Of course the Lakers could get beat by the Nuggets. I don't think they will, but Denver can be extremely good. As for the Cavs, forget Boston or Orlando. I don't care what Orlando did in the regular season, they won't beat the Cavs in the playoffs. They don't have ONE consistent scoring option. Not one. Hedu is as close as they get, and in a series teams figure him out. Howard is great, but as far as being a consistent scorer offensively he isn't there yet. The team that CAN beat the Cavs is Atlanta. Why? Well two reasons. Al Horford and Josh Smith. When those two are at the 4 and 5 positions, Cleveland has no answer. Big Z is way to slow, and though Varajao plays hard he isn't savy enough to keep either player from having a field day. The Hawks easily out athlete the Cavs as well. That said, I don't think they will beat Cleveland for two reasons. #1 Cavs are a lot better than them, and #2 the Heat series. The Heat could still potentially beat the Hawks, and even if they don't the Hawks will be really beat up after that series.

It's a wash.

 

The only chance either team has of missing the finals is an injury to a key player. Otherwise, they'll make it to the finals with relative ease.

 

Denver can't beat LA in a best-of-seven.

Cavs are a lock IMO. Lakers have a tougher road.

They're both locks barring a major injury.

 

I'm tired of hearing about Bynum not being ready...the Lakers can roll through the western conference without him. In fact, they're capable of winning the title without him...having him Bynum only boosts their chances.

With the Celtics experience I can see them knocking off the Cavs in 7. Especially if they can steal one on the road. They have 3 legit scoring threats in Allen, Pierce, and Rondo, while the Cavs has only 1 in Lebron which is a big one no doubt. I know Mo Williams can be a scorer but has not had to be a go to guy in the playoffs yet. I think it'll be Boston vs. LA again. Just my opinion.

It's a wash.

 

The only chance either team has of missing the finals is an injury to a key player. Otherwise, they'll make it to the finals with relative ease.

 

Denver can't beat LA in a best-of-seven.

Agreed.

Without KG there's no way Boston can overcome Cleveland, especially considering the Cavs would get four games at home. People appreciate but really don't see the significance of how good the Cavaliers are at home, If you do some research I'm sure you'll not find too many teams historically who only lost one home game, it would be hard to find teams who only lost two or three. Point is they "don't" lose at home, and since its the playoffs it only makes it that much tougher.

 

My second big thing is people tend to look down on the Cavs because of their lack of scorers. Well, Cleveland is not that type of team, they do not rely on the same duo or trio to step up for them each night. Instead they play solid team basketball and this puts them in a situation to win games. People don't realize how much Lebron James helps the players around him, take a handful of the guys who get serious minutes for them and then check their stats before they got to Cleveland. Or you can see what their stats are once they leave. In Cleveland you have a serviceable big man, a nifty shooting point guard, and a monster in James. Everyone has a role and everyone does what they're supposed to do. It's just I haven't seen to many teams who get the most out of what they have the way Cleveland does, and their just such a good "team", the Celtics without their leader in Garnett, or any other team for that matter will be able to knock them off in the East.

With the Celtics experience I can see them knocking off the Cavs in 7. Especially if they can steal one on the road. They have 3 legit scoring threats in Allen, Pierce, and Rondo, while the Cavs has only 1 in Lebron which is a big one no doubt. I know Mo Williams can be a scorer but has not had to be a go to guy in the playoffs yet. I think it'll be Boston vs. LA again. Just my opinion.

 

Boston will be lucky to beat Cleveland once...if they even get there. They have zero chance without Garnett.

I think it's LA...

 

But I think both of these teams will be in the finals, and the Cavs will win it all.

Maybe the lakers do have the best chance of missing the finals, but you forgot one thing...The Lakers have been far in the post season plenty of times, and the Cavs have not.

Maybe the lakers do have the best chance of missing the finals, but you forgot one thing...The Lakers have been far in the post season plenty of times, and the Cavs have not.

 

The Cavs have been to the NBA finals.

The Cavs have been to the NBA finals.

 

Yea but how many more times has Kobe and the Lakers been???