Jonas DeRoss wrote:zilby wrote:Jonas DeRoss wrote:
no love for some of those earlier bulls teams?
I considered them, but tbh the Bulls were only a legitimate threat for one year, and that was 2011. They made one ECF and got handled by Miami in a swift 5-gamer. The next year Rose tore his knee for the first time and they weren't the same again, and they never posed a threat at any point. They've been beaten by LeBron four times since 2010, and 3 of those 4 series were in 5 games.
Pacers and KG-Pierce-Ray Celtics are IMO the two teams that posed the biggest threat to LeBron and actually put him in the danger zone, Pacers going a tough 6 games the first year and going up 3-2 before losing in 7. Boston made an NBA Finals and an ECF and also went up 3-2 on Bron. Those prime Pacers would've beaten anybody else had the Heatles not existed, then Paul George had his knee issues and has turned into a volume chucker on offense, and Roy Hibbert had his talent stolen by the Monstars. IMO they always were the one team seriously capable of beating LeBron in the East.
idk if i'm underrating the hawks but i'd honestly consider sliding the raptors above them, just never seen the hawks as a legit contender (guess you can say the same about us) but swept in ecf and got bounced a lot in the first round during that time span.
edit: i retract, keep the hawks above the raptors, list seems fine to me.
I think there's something to be said for making the playoffs ten consecutive years (8 of 9 years this decade) with a 60-win season, it's pretty remarkable. They have been swept by Bron twice, and they were probably never a true threat to anyone to begin with, but I feel like you have to put them up there for supreme consistency.
That said, IMO, if we don't completely fizzle out, we surpass them this year. They won 5 playoff series this decade, I'm assuming we'll also get to 5, plus we've actually challenged LeBron before and will do so this year. If we make the Finals, we should be on par with the Pacers and early decade Celtics if not better.