3. The Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are in a very similar position as the Los Angeles Lakers. They have not played much together and they dealt with various injuries throughout the regular season that are trickling into the NBA Playoffs.
Quite frankly, the Nets have the exact same hurdles as the Lakers, even down to this one. Not only do these two teams have to deal with injuries and chemistry, but their biggest hurdles are arguably each other.
And if any Philadelphia 76ers fans have found themselves on this article I apologize, but I cannot see the Sixers winning the NBA Finals this season. That offense is going to bog down in the playoffs and while I was very high on them as a regular-season team, I think a healthy Nets and Lakers team takes care of business against Philly.
The Lakers have better depth and a size mismatch against the Nets but the Nets have more starpower and if there is one thing to know about the NBA it is this: starpower wins NBA Championships.
While I like the matchups for the Lakers offensively they are also coming up against a team that was putting up historical offensive efficiency numbers when they all played together. While the Lakers have a great defense, I don’t think they can keep up with a Nets team that is firing on all cylinders.
Does this mean that the Lakers cannot beat the Nets? Absolutely not. If this series does take place then it would be one of the best NBA Finals of all time. However, this is far from a walk in the park for the Lakers. It is a legitimate coin toss.