Sports Time Radio

Now as you know I’m not a big fan of the NBA, but I’m trying to be more excepting of what the game has turned into. It’s taking some time, but hopefully I’ll get to the point where I’ll be able to watch more of the games again.

While we’re on the NBA it might be difficult to believe, but the regular season is just about halfway over. Now remember there are only 72 regular season games this season; so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re as far along in the regular season as they are.

In general when you reach this point of a regular season there starts to be talk about which team might be the best. Now in the NBA I thought this was pretty obvious, but it’s possible there might be some other teams in that discussion even though I’m not buying that. I think we should take a look just in case there is.

If you where to go just by record the Utah Jazz immediately jump out as the best team. The Jazz are 24-6 which is the best record in the NBA right now, but they’re only two games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and just two and a half games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers who just beat the Jazz last night 116-112. These three teams currently have the best three records n the NBA, but this is jut the regular season.

When I heard this question I thought that the answer was the Lakers and I know I’m not alone in thinking that. Any team that has Lebron James on it has to be considered one of the best if not the best, but the Lakers have had their issues with injuries this season as they’re currently playing without their number two star Anthony Davis.

Davis is out with a achilles injury as well as having some issues with his calf. It appears as though Davis will be out for about a month. Davis hasn’t played since February 14th when he got hurt in the Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets. Davis has missed the last two Lakers games and the team has split them without him. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-104, but remember the Timberwolves have the worst record in the NBA at 7-23. Then the Lakers lost to the Brooklyn Nets without Davis 109-98. Will have to see how the Lakers do against their NBA finals opponent from the bubble last season as they take on the Miami Heat this afternoon on ABC.

The Clippers have also had their share of injuries this season as both of their top stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have missed games this season. Leonard returned last night from his injury in time for the Clippers to beat the Jazz.

Leonard played 38 minutes in his first game back from injury last night. Leonard scored 29 points last night and was the Clippers leading scorer. George played 27 minutes and added 15 points in the Clippers win over the Jazz. Without Leonard on Wednesday night the Jazz where able to get past the Clippers 114-96; so the Clippers got a little bit of a revenge win last night.

The Clippers have won five out of their last six games and now they’ll get a day off before they face off against a team that many people think might be the best team in the NBA the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

Now these three teams look like they’re the best teams in the Western Conference, but what about the Nets and possibly some other Eastern Conference teams.

The Nets fit into a category that the Lakers and the Clippers fit into; if they’re healthy they could be dangerous. You’re looking at a team that starts James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but you never know when Durant and especially Irving are actually going to play.

The Nets have played 31 games this season. Irving has played in 21 of those games while Durant has played in just 19 of those games. Now you have to wonder if the Nets can win a seven game series against a quality team if they have to play it without Durant or Irving or maybe even both. We’ve seen Harden carry the playoff load for the Houston Rockets and those runs always seemed to end in the conference championship; so he’ll need the help of Durant and Irving if the Nets are going to get to the NBA Finals.

The Nets seem to get all the buzz in the Eastern Conference and with the trade for Harden and the fact that they’re on a five game winning streak it’s understandable that they’re the team the media wants t talk about, but they don’t even have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Right now it’s the Philadelphia 76ers that have that best Eastern Conference record at 20-10 which puts them a game and a half ahead of the Nets.

I understand that everyone has already decided that Lebron James is the MVP of the league, but shouldn’t Joel Embiid be given some consideration? Embiid is averaging a double-double this season. He’s scoring 29.7 points per game and grabbing 10.8 rebounds per game. Embiid is currently the fourth highest scorer this season and don’t forget he also blocks 1.2 shots per game. Now we know that Embiid has had his injury issues throughout his career, but he only missed seven of the Philadelphia’s 30 games this season.

Embiid is not only an MVP candidate, but his team should also be considered as one of the teams that might end up in the NBA Finals. One of the hang ups with picking the 76ers is that they where supposed to be going to the finals for the last few season and just haven’t been able to get passed something. Could this final be the season that Philadelphia gets to the NBA Finals led by MVP candidate Embiid?

Any time you talk about the Eastern Conference you have to talk about the Milwaukee Bucks. Now the Bucks broke a five game losing streak last night when they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-85. Even with the losing streak the Bucks are still 17-13 on the season and they’ll easily be a playoff team; so could they be a finals contender?

Milwaukee has one of the best players in the NBA in Giannis Antetokoumpo, but the question with the Bucks still seems to be; do they have enough around Antetokoumpo to win it all?

Krhis Middleton is still with the Bucks and he’ll contribute, but I’m not sure if Milwaukee is getting everything they expected out of Jrue Holiday. Holiday is averaging 16.4 points per game and 5.4 assists per game, but if the Bucks are going to get by the other top teams in the Eastern Conference they’re going to need more out of Holiday, but can he give it to them?

So if these are the Top 6 teams in the NBA; which one is your pick right now as not only the best team, but the one that you like to win the NBA title?

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You can also find me on Twitter. I’m @Burketime