While the regular season taught us numerous small and interesting things, it did little to shake the big picture of the league. Besides the epic-fail of the Lakers, no team developments were shocking. And even the Lakers' surprising woes make sense when put into context, given L.A.'s injuries and age issues.
Before the season Miami was the favorite to win the title, and they still are. OKC, San Antonio and the Clippers are all legit contenders. Memphis is a fringe contender. Every other team is an extreme long shot to make it to the Finals.
Obviously in the East, given that Miami is the only dominant team, something weird could happen, and a team like Indiana or the Knicks could make the Finals. But this is highly improbable.
So, in my eyes, it is looking like we will have a rematch of last year's Finals, with the same outcome. I do think many people are undervaluing how dangerous the Spurs and Clippers can be in the postseason, but OKC is still my slight favorite to make it out of the West. The "real" season will start in a few days, and it should be fun.
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