With the 2023-2024 NBA season winding down, teams with a realistic chance of getting in this year’s playoffs are in the hunt to stack up much-needed wins. However, in reality, half of them will probably never have any shot at the NBA title or even the NBA Finals this season.
In all honesty, in any given year, we could always speculate which teams in the East and West will have a great chance to reach the Finals and win it all in June.
In today’s list, we will list 5 teams in the East and 5 teams in the West who are capable of reaching the NBA Finals this season.
East: Philadelphia 76ers
They may be slipping further in the standings because Joel Embiid is still out in the lineup but if the 2022-2023 Most Valuable Player comes back healthy(Embiid is expected to play again towards the end of the regular season), then the Sixers are going to be a tough matchup in the East.
They were perceived as one of the favorites to come out of the East this year before Embiid’s injury woes but that all could still be in play if he’s back at full strength, especially in the playoffs. The Sixers do need Tyrese Maxey to step it up in the postseason for all of this to materialize.
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West: Phoenix Suns
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A team with Durant, Booker and Beal should not be a surprising choice for a probable NBA Finals appearance. Despite their shortcomings and sometimes questionable effort in the regular season, these three superstars can instantly elevate their games come playoff time.
The Suns are going to be a nightmare matchup in a seven-game series. If one of their stars struggles, another star(or two) will be capable of rising up for the challenge. Their only kryptonite? A true floor general when things get tough.
East: Miami Heat
By this time, it’s certainly unwise to underestimate Jimmy Butler and the rest of the Miami Heat. They don’t mind which seed they might get in the playoffs as the Heat will always have the mentality that they are the much better team against anybody in front of them in a seven-game series.
While they were pretty uneven in the regular season, expect them to turn it up a notch in the playoffs. “Playoff Jimmy” is a real thing and we were all witnesses of his greatness last season. Plus, the team is still coached by Erik Spoelstra. A Finals run would not surprise anybody.
West: Minnesota Timberwolves
This might be the year where the Wolves could potentially advance all the way to the NBA Finals if they continue their stifling defense against other teams in the West. If Edwards, Towns and Gobert remain healthy and produce at a high level, a Larry O’Brien is definitely attainable.
Anthony Edwards will inevitably become one of the faces in the league someday but he could hasten the appointment if he’ll have a legendary performance in the playoffs this season.
East: New York Knicks
Rejoice, Knicks fans! This might be the year when your beloved team could make a deep run in the postseason. If Randle comes back at near full strength, then anything is possible for this team, including a possible Finals appearance – the first since 1999 if that happens.
Jalen Brunson is having a career year and it’s hard to fathom that he’ll be slowed down by anybody in a seven-game series. He’s one of the best point guards in the league this season and history usually favors great guards when it comes from the Eastern Conference.
West: Dallas Mavericks
Surprised? Despite the plethora of injury woes this team has endured this season, the Mavs still remain a legitimate threat to make a dramatic run to the Finals in June. Stopping the Luka-Kyrie duo will be easier said and done, especially if those two are clicking right from the get-go.
We all know that there’s a good chance that Luka will be perceived as the best player in any series he participates in and he clearly knows that advantage, whether we tell him or not. In addition, Kyrie is hungrier than ever. He wants a title with Dallas to silence all his critics.
East: Milwaukee Bucks
Whether Doc Rivers is the best coach for this team or not, we could all expect that Giannis will do everything he can to steer this team to another championship, especially after suffering an embarrassing exit last season at the hands of the Miami Heat.
With Damian Lillard in tow and hungry for recognition, there’s no doubt in our mind that they are capable of reaching the NBA Finals this season, with the utmost potential to hoist the Larry O’Brien when it’s all said and done.
West: Oklahoma City Thunder
They weren’t supposed to become this good so quickly, but there’s no stopping SGA and this young Thunder squad any time soon. Their rise is truly unprecedented but the rest of the league have taken notice of their remarkable journey.
Some say they aren’t battle-tested yet in the playoffs but these same critics were once skeptical with Stephen Curry’s sudden rise with the Warriors almost a decade ago. The same exact thing is currently happening with OKC and we’re just here for the ride.
East: Boston Celtics
The duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are out for vengeance this season and their record in the East is clearly showing it. With Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in tow, the Celtics became a much more dangerous team, maybe even one of the best in recent memory.
Now, if they could perform in the same manner in the postseason(together with the dominance they’ve shown all season long), there’s little to no reason to doubt that they’ll reach the NBA Finals and win the entire thing at the end of the year. This is their season to lose and the only thing that’s keeping them from winning it all is themselves.
West: Denver Nuggets
Despite Boston’s brilliance, the Nuggets are still the team to beat this season. They have the league’s best player in Nikola Jokic and the former two-time league MVP will be feasting on all the poor souls who will be given the unfortunate task to stop him in the playoffs.
And of course, we certainly cannot forget his war-ready teammates such as Michael Porter, Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray. They are known to step it up a notch when the games matter the most and when they play hard, things tend to fall the Nuggets’ way.
