Which 3 playoff teams do you fear the most?

[likashing]

None. It will be sweet to win a ring after defeating the Spurs and James' SuperTeam

[Twinkie defense]

I would love to just run the Cavs off the court like UNLV did to Duke back in the day.

[bakesale]

Vegas has Cleveland at 2-1 Championship odds now, favorites to win it all.

I watched them play earlier today vs Memphis. Memphis in their own right are legitimate contenders in my opinion (even though I said I don't fear them) and yet cleveland made them look like a D league team today.

The scariest thing about Cleveland now? Kevin Love is starting to play like the REAL Kevin Love who so many of us were lusting after last year... ie he's not just standing in the corner catching and shooting, he's scoring in the low post too!

When all 3 of their big 3 are playing well it's phenomenal to watch and they're practically unbeatable. Honestly I think they looked better than the heat in their championship years. Miami were arguably a slightly better defensive team, but this team have an unbeatable offence. It's truly incredible to watch.
Mind you this was against one of the best defences in the NBA, one of the better teams overall in the NBA, I haven't ever seen Memphis be so easily dismantled in the past 4-5 seasons.

Yes GSW has been thrashing teams lately too but they weren't of the quality of full squad Memphis. Portland and Atlanta were very much undermanned.

If we do face them in the finals and I think there's a great chance of that much, I do think their Big 3 will simply be too talented for us to handle. I think our defence will be so focused on trying to stop Lebron who is already unstoppable and destroyed us despite our best efforts last season but even if we manage to affect him, the other 2 will just take advantage and there won't be a damn thing we can stop their option 2 and option 2A.

They also have a great coach. He needed some time to adjust to American basketball and to create team chemistry, but he's an absolute genius. He's a lot better than Spoelstra

yes this exactly

I never rated Spo as a coach. I thought he was only ok at best but Blatt is a GENIUS! His offensive schemes are just brilliant. I think this too is definitely what is setting them apart from the rest of the pack, including us.

I think we have the personnel and depth to take them to 7, especially being that we will have home court advantage, but at the end of the day their talent will overwhelm our talent period.

[ILOVEIT]

I'm surprised people are saying Cleveland, I still think Atlanta wins the east.

Would absolutely love to see Atlanta beat CAvs

[NBAfan3024]

Think people are doubting hawks due to their recent losing streak. They did beat cavs last time out..cavs are looking strong though.

[kaiballz]

I'm surprised people are saying Cleveland, I still think Atlanta wins the east.

Would absolutely love to see Atlanta beat CAvs

i for one would rather face atl then the cavs. cavs just have way too much talent. we have the edge, but if kyrie or lebron goes off for 50 its going to be hard to manage.

but the chances of both 1st seeds going up are slim to none. honestly, i wouldn't care about the east yet. as long as we are one of the two teams going into the finals its an amazing year. then, we can worry about atl or the cavs.

[jucje32]

1) Finals opponent
2) WCF opponent
3) 2nd round opponent

this

[KaiWinn]

Rockets (with a healthy D12), Grizzlies and Cavs. I think we will match up against the Hawks well, if we faced them in the finals. Facing the Cavs will be our toughest matchup in the playoffs imo.

[turk3d]

Believe it or not, I'm concerned a little about OKC who I consider a sleeper. I know we handled them all season long and they'll be without Durant, but my concern is that with Kanter (who's playing the best he's ever played and who in the past has given Bogut some difficulty due to his outside shooting) and Waiters (who I think is now starting next to Westbrook) they may be more balanced than they were before Durant went down.

And of course, with the season that Westbrook is having, they could be dangerous. Of course, with our defense and assuming we go into the playoffs with total health, we should be able to handle them but it might not be that easy.

And of course, there's SAS who seems like they're gearing up to make a run (as they always do come playoff time) and they seem to be healthy too. And with Pop running the show (one of Kerr's mentors) there's always a danger there. But, all this means is that we're going to have to earn it in order to get out of the Western Conference on top (as we've been earning it all season long). Looking forward to it.

[Twinkie defense]

BPI likes the Warriors, a lot...

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12563 ... s-warriors

[turk3d]

BPI likes the Warriors, a lot...

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12563 ... s-warriors

I saw that Twinkie. I think I might of posted it in another thread. Pretty interesting stuff.

[watch1958]

I fear the Lakers, they always play the Warriors tough.

[HiRez]

I fear the Lakers, they always play the Warriors tough.

I think you missed the part about PLAYOFF TEAM in the title!

[watch1958]

I fear the Lakers, they always play the Warriors tough.

I think you missed the part about PLAYOFF TEAM in the title!

I know. I just like to be reminded how ridiculous it is to mistake the Lakers for a playoff team.

[shazam_guy]

Who do -I- fear? Only Cleveland and San Antonio, and that's just looking for things to worry about.

But here's the truth, so let's enjoy it: at this point, nobody in either conference (including those two teams) wants the Warriors. We are scary, we are deep, we defend like crazy (never thought I'd be saying THAT) and we can throw a twenty-point run on you so quick you'll think somebody shot you in the head with the t-shirt cannon.

[Ganji]

1. OKC - Westbrook is just playing at insane level right now, almost averages a triple double, he reminds me of prime Wade who was carrying Heat by himself... We should not be fooled by absence of Durant, OKC is still a solid team, and Westbrook is really freaking good.
2. Memphis - if everything is clicking for them, then they have really solid team lead my Zbo and Marc Gasol.
3. Cavs - they are starting to Gel, and Lebron with Kyrie can do some heroics, + Love might be an x-factor, and Mozgov was great addition for them.

[HiRez]

I feel like we beat anyone if Curry, Green, and especially Bogut are healthy, pretty much as simple as that. We can still win if we lose Barnes, and honestly I think we could weather a loss of Thompson (would be more difficult, obviously). But if Bogut goes down, I don't think we can win a title, or even get by a lot of West teams.

The team is prepared and focused, I don't think they are going to be taken by surprise. We have now beat every team in the league at least once this year. And if a team does surprise us with something, our coaching staff is good at making adjustments. Over a 7-game series I don't think we will find ourselves in 06-07 Dallas Mavs position, shaking our heads and wondering "What happened?" Popovich probably has a few tricks up his sleeve, but I don't even think he is going to run circles around Kerr/Gentry/Adams.

[cj03]

I really don't think OKC has the horses to beat us more than once. Keep in mind this team is around .500 without Durant, and they just lost to SAS by 39.

[michaelm]

Cavaliers who have some guy called Le Bron playing for them. He had to make a fairly exhausting contribution to beat the Ws away though so hopefully he can't be "on" to the degree he was in that game for a sufficient number of games in a 7 game series should it end up as the Cavs vs the Ws.

If the old guard at the Spurs can manage enough endurance for enough play-off rounds they are obviously a worry as well; I think the Ws are significantly better than when they ran the Spurs so close 2 years ago but Kawhi Leonard is also better, so it comes down to how much Duncan, Parker and Ginobli have left in their tanks.

[NBAfan3024]

right now only Spurs and Cavs are teams who I see actually beating us.