There’s a 64-win team in Boston that ran away with the league’s best record. The defending champions in Denver, a group that won 57 games. A fearless young bunch in Oklahoma City, whose No. 1 seed was no fluke. A trio of Villanova alums in New York, who turned the Knicks into a real contender.
And, once again, there’s LeBron James, too.
The NBA playoffs are about to begin with the Celtics and Nuggets the heavy favorites — at least according to BetMGM Sportsbook — to collide in the Finals, and no shortage of teams have realistic belief that they can win the whole thing as well. After a seven-month ramp-up through training camp, a preseason, the regular season, the inaugural NBA Cup and then a play-in tournament, the league finally wakes up on Saturday with 16 teams left in the chase for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“Come Saturday, there are 15 other teams that want what we have,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “We have the world championship trophy and everybody’s trying to take it from us.”
Ruud advances to Barcelona semis after beating Arnaldi in straight sets
Global democracy rankings: Australia in top 10 nations
JULIE BURCHILL: Why I spread rumours about Kate
Masterful meals: Masterchef 2010 champion Dhruv Baker's cherry and hazelnut chocolate roulade
France asks retailers to alert customers to cases of 'shrinkflation'
'The more, the merrier!' Mother of Princess Beatrice's stepson says she is still close with her ex
WWII bomb found in garden in UK city taken out to sea
Taylor Swift leaves QR codes with secret meanings in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of the much
Ant and Dec discuss their emotional farewell to Saturday Night Takeaway after 22 years
Would you like a cicada salad? The monstrous little noisemakers descend on a New Orleans menu
Gary Neville takes aim at 'terrible' Arsenal player who 'kept falling over' during their 0