Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking their top championship threats
Honorable Mentions: Toronto Raptors & Boston Celtics
These are both two extremely well-balanced teams that have defied all odds, despite losing their superstars in the past offseason.
The reigning champions Toronto Raptors were destined to be a better-than-average team in the Eastern Conference after Kawhi Leonard‘s departure. But that is not the case for the Canadians as they have shown incredible character to place themselves as clear favorites for the #2 seed.
One could go on and on, talking about the excellence of the Raptors. To be fair, have we ever witnessed a reigning championship team, where every single player in the roster is having a breakout season? These are your 2019-20 Toronto Raptors, led by the brilliance of Nick Nurse.
On the other side, we have the Boston Celtics who are currently on the dino’s tail for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Tonight's All-Star game was the most competitive edition in NBA history. And during it, Kemba and Tatum got a chance to go one-on-one. https://t.co/7YFnHhhaWg
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) February 17, 2020
The Lakers have met the Celtics 12 times in the NBA Finals, more than any other matchup around the league. Those series always tend to be for the history books and have included numerous Hall of Famers.
Though incredible, these two teams are still “honorable mentions”. The main reason is that they are not favorites to win the East, which would be the only way of meeting the purple-and-gold in an NBA Finals matchup.