On Monday, we asked which team you expect to win the Eastern Conference in 2021. As of this writing, the Nets have received about 40% of the vote, easily besting the runner-up Bucks (23%). Those results aren’t surprising — the oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag have made Brooklyn the clear favorite to win the conference and represent the East in this year’s NBA Finals.
In the West, however, there’s not really a clear frontrunner. The defending-champion Lakers (36-25) still have the best odds, per BetOnline, but L.A. has only won eight of its last 20 games, having had to play for several weeks without injured stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
While Davis is back now and James should be soon, the Lakers have slipped to fifth in the Western standings, four games back of the fourth-seeded Nuggets. That means their path to the Finals could involve road series against Denver, Utah, and either the Suns or Clippers. That won’t be an easy road, even if AD and LeBron stay healthy and look like their usual selves.
The Clippers (43-20) and Jazz (44-17) are considered the next-best bets to win the West. After a disappointing showing in the 2020 postseason, the Clips should be a tougher out in 2021. Kawhi Leonard is a two-time Finals MVP, Paul George has played some of his best basketball in recent weeks (30.2 PPG on .503/.427/.920 shooting in his last nine games), and Rajon Rondo has been a perfect fit in the team’s rotation so far.
Utah, meanwhile, owns the NBA’s best record, led by Defensive Player of the Year candidate Rudy Gobert, leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, and a pair of Sixth Man of the Year contenders (Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles). The Jazz lack a superstar wing like LeBron or Kawhi, but this is a deep, talented club that is capable of winning multiple playoff series.
The Suns (43-18) are currently the No. 2 seed in the West, and while they haven’t made the postseason since 2010, they’ve proven this season that they can hang with the NBA’s top teams. Their duo of Chris Paul and Devin Booker has been the conference’s best backcourt this season, complemented by key role players like Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, and Jae Crowder.
The Nuggets, unfortunately, look like far less of a threat to make the Finals without Jamal Murray (torn ACL) available. But they’ve only lost once in seven games since Murray went down, as MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic has kept rolling and Michael Porter Jr. (25.7 PPG on .591/.544/.826 shooting in his last seven games) has stepped up to fill the scoring void that Murray’s injury created.
Some teams outside of the West’s top five, including the Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Warriors, could make some noise in the playoffs if their respective stars get hot at the right time, but none is better than a 25-to-1 shot to come out of the West this season, according to BetOnline.
What do you think? Will the Lakers repeat as Western champs, or will a team with home court advantage get the best of them? Which team do you expect will represent the West in the 2021 NBA Finals?
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I’d replace Nuggets with Blazers in the poll
AD will be 100%? AD is not A Drummond
Suns and Nuggets would be knocked out in the first round?
Possible
My Top 4
Lakers
Jazz
Clippers
Blazers
People who voted for the clippers making their first finals are funny.
Stop wasting votes.
All the people who voted for the Lakers aren’t funny. They are just really sad and are wasting even more votes.
You are sad for doubting a franchise that knows how to win titles. No one in the West will push them even to 7 games. Best supporting cast LeBron has had maybe ever. Ship those rings to Figueroa homes.
Yeah because LeBron has shown a complete inability to get his team in the Finals…
Not a Lakers fan but to suggest they’re not the favourites, assuming AD and LeBron are healthy, is kinda ridiculous.
How can anyone assume they’re healthy when they’re clearly not?
How many games will LeBron have to get ready before the playoffs?
He won’t be back until next week at the earliest, and might only be able to play a couple of games to prepare for the postseason, if that.
Now your a doctor? If anything the Lakers slow rolledAD and Lebron’s return. The Lakers core hasbeen together awhile and played together earlier in the year for a third of the season. It is not a team thrown together like the Nets. Otherwise you’re betting against a player who has played in like 65 percent of the NBA finals since he entered tge league playing with the best supporting cast he has had at least sine Miami, I would say better than Miami. No one is crazy for picking the Lakers, your the guy who said they would lose in 5 or 6 games in the first round. Your opinion is the bizzarro weird outlier
He’s a doctor of nonsense
No, just a realist. Unlike all the homer Laker fans around here.
Just because an opinion is popular doesn’t make it the truth.
You said the same nonsense last year and they won it all. Sure you have some more ammo this year with our best 2 players out with injury but they’ll be ready for the playoffs bud.
Rockets
Lakers, if Bron and AD are healthy they will take it mostly in 5 or 6 games. Can’t see a team in the west maybe the Clippers that could take us even 7. We dominated last year and that was a patchwork supporting cast that had never answered the bell up to that point. This team is much deeper than last year, much more balanced, and the core has been together a couple of seasons at least if not more.
In the 4th quarter watch for Ad to move to 5, opening the 4 spot for Montrezl, Schroeder, LeBron and one of either Caruso or Kcp isf he gets hot closing 4th quarters.
Starting to sound just like Marty there. The Lakers themselves will be lucky to extend any series to seven games. And Montrezl doesn’t play PF, he’s strictly a center. Don’t even know your own team’s roster, do you?
Yes he can and does when AD wasnt involved, I know our roster just fine. We will see who is laughing in the finals. Whose your pick genius? Funny all the other basketball fans on here the biggest chunk see it my way.
He’ll be watching the Rockets ‘95 Championship replays this summer while the Lakers chase down another title
If it wasn’t for the Murray injury I think it would have been the Nuggets easy. I don’t trust either LA team. Major health concerns for the Lakers and who knows if the Clippers can do well in clutch time. I guess I’m going with the Jazz.
Steph Curry will lead GSW to the Finals, mark my words….
My preseason pick was Sixers over the Jazz in 6…so I still feel comfortable picking the Jazz to win the west
Don’t sleep on the Suns.
They remind me a lot of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks and nobody expected them to do anything.
No surprises here… Marty picks GSW.
I pick the top 2 and Lakers. Clips, Jazz,
#1?— ouch.