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The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada).
Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets were heavy favourites to meet up in the NBA Finals. However, things didn’t go as planned. Injuries hurt both of their chances and saw them get bounced from the playoffs earlier than we expected as Lakers faced an early exit in the first round while the Nets were upset by the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.
Entering this new year, and things haven’t changed much in terms of being favourites once again. The Nets will have a full year of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Blake Griffin. They are easily the best offensive team in the league and will have no problem outscoring their opponent on a nightly basis.
However, the Lakers have revamped their roster after a disappointing finish. They acquired Russell Westbrook to play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They also brought in a lot veterans with needed experience to help round out their roster. Fans will have to wait to see how things will turn out on the court.
The Nets lost James Harden and Kyrie Irving in their second-round matchup against the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers lost Anthony Davis in the first round against the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns.
Now after a disappointing end to the season, the Nets and Lakers must regroup for next season. Changes need to be made. Also, good health needs to be maintained throughout next season.
The Lakers were supposed to be back in the Finals, after winning it all last season. However, the injuries hurt them all season long. The roster was not good enough to compete unless both LeBron James and Anthony Davis were healthy. That means that they must fix some of their roster problems this offseason. The Lakers need to make big time moves in order to reclaim their throne.
The biggest problem with the Nets this season was health. Their big three is one of the best we have ever seen. Harden, Irving, and Kevin Durant are all elite scorers in this league. Opponents are scared of their abilities as a trio.
However, they were only able to play fewer than 20 games as a unit. Next season will be a full year with this core. They will be coming in fully healthy as well. This big three were unstoppable during the games they played together. It was just unfortunate that the sample size was so low. We should expect to see the Nets as one of the top teams in the NBA next season. Both of these teams are going to be formidable next year. The expectation as of right now is that they are both the favourites in their respective conferences. It is the most likely outcome next year; seeing the Nets and Lakers in the NBA Finals.
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