'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The schedule for the highly anticipated 2021-22 NBA season has been published recently. The release of next campaign's calendar has put up many interesting matchups in the NBA's 75th regular season that will catch a lot of attention.
Apart from some great duels between elite teams on the Opening Night on October 19th, Christmas Day or MLK Day, the NBA Playoffs will be particularly interesting, as usual.
We will look past the Milwaukee Bucks' duel with the Brooklyn Nets on Opening Night, and the LA Lakers' Christmas Day duel with the Nets to dive into the possible series we could get in the NBA Playoffs.
On that note, here are five matchups everyone would like to see in the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Without further ado, let's get started:
#5 LA Lakers vs LA Clippers
The LA Lakers and the LA Clippers' rivalry has been solid in the last two seasons, but it has not materialized for fans in the NBA Playoffs.
Both teams geared up to contend for the NBA championship before the 2019-20 season, and were expected to meet in the late stages of the Western Conference Playoffs.
While the LA Lakers rolled to the NBA championship in 2020, the LA Clippers were a disappointment, and fell in the second round of the 2020 postseason after having a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets.
Last season, the LA Clippers made it to the Western Conference Finals, even after a rocky start to the postseason against the Dallas Mavericks and Kawhi Leonard's season-ending injury in the second round.
Meanwhile, injuries derailed the LA Lakers' 2020-21 NBA campaign, as LeBron James and Anthony Davis were not healthy during the regular season, and Davis also got hurt in the postseason.
The only reason why this LA rivalry isn't rated higher is because of Kawhi Leonard's knee injury and his chances of missing most of the season, if not the whole year.
The LA Clippers could still be a postseason team without Leonard, so their elusive duel with the LA Lakers in the postseason could definitely be interesting.
#4 New York Knicks vs Brooklyn Nets
New York City will again be one of the cities to look out for during the NBA season, and far from what we have seen in recent seasons, both the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets will have solid squads.
Calling the Brooklyn Nets a solid squad is definitely an understatement. The Nets' super team with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving is an elite contender for the 2022 NBA championship and will be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference if they play up to expectations.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks are coming off an NBA Playoffs appearance in their first year under Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks put up a 41-31 regular-season record before falling in the first round to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks (in another duel that had the makeup of a rivalry).
Crosstown rivalries are always fun in the NBA, and the story between Brooklyn's super team and the Knicks, who hope to be great, can only be interesting. Both teams will meet three times in the regular season. But a postseason clash could be on the cards, with the Knicks likely to fight for the 5-8 seeds and Brooklyn battling at the top.
#3 LA Lakers vs Golden State Warriors
Watching LeBron James and Stephen Curry battle it out in the NBA Playoffs? Yes, please. LeBron James met the Golden State Warriors in four consecutive NBA Finals when he was in the Eastern Conference. But since his move to the LA Lakers, there has been no postseason meeting between James and Stephen Curry.
Last season, the Play-In tournament gave us a chance to see the LA Lakers and the Golden State Warriors face off in a game that had NBA Playoff intensity, even if theoretically it wasn't a postseason clash.
For the upcoming NBA campaign, both the LA Lakers and the Golden State Warriors should be better than they were in the previous season. The LA Lakers had a strong offseason, adding Russell Westbrook to the mix and lots of veterans and shooters to revamp their roster.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors should have Klay Thompson back at some point in the regular season, and the trio of Stephen Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green has proven to be NBA championship material.
A meeting between both squads at full strength in the NBA Playoffs would be amazing, with James and Curry meeting yet again in a tense postseason battle.
#2 Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks
The Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks gave us a seven-game series for the ages in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Eventually, Milwaukee took advantage of Brooklyn's injury woes to win the series en route to the NBA championship.
While James Harden missed the first four games of the series and Kyrie Irving got injured in Game 4, the Brooklyn Nets enjoyed having two superstars on the court in every game of the series.
Still, the Bucks managed to defeat the Nets and overcome amazing performances from Kevin Durant. Game 7 was a thrilling one, with Durant sending the game to overtime with a shot that looked like the game-winning three-pointer. Eventually, the Bucks won the game with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton delivering clutch shots and Brook Lopez showing clutch defense in OT too.
The series was stunning, and it would definitely be fun to watch something similar this season. If the Nets face off against the Bucks at full strength, they will be favored, but the confident reigning champions will definitely have a shot at beating the super team.
Both squads will meet on Opening Night in Milwaukee, and it could be an early preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.
#1 LA Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets
The LA Lakers against the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA Finals seems like a matchup that most want to see, given the group of superstars both teams have on their rosters. Not only are both teams stacked with talent, the storylines between some of the players on the LA Lakers and Brooklyn Nets is also interesting.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have not faced each other in the NBA Playoffs since KD left Westbrook and the OKC Thunder in 2016. Meanwhile, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving won a championship together for the Cleveland Cavaliers. But reports suggest their relationship did not end well and that Irving effectively wanted to play without James elsewhere.
Moreover, James Harden and Russell Westbrook played together early in their careers at Oklahoma City and later played for the Houston Rockets in the 2019-20 NBA season.
There were reports of a strained relationship between Westbrook and 'The Beard' in Houston, and they split after only a year and many rumors.
If the LA Lakers and Brooklyn Nets meet in the 2022 NBA Finals, it will obviously be one of the most watched deciding series in recent NBA history. A long year is still ahead of us, and odds do not always decide the fate of an NBA season. However, a Lakers-Nets fight for the Larry O'Brien trophy could be unbelievable in June 2022.
You may also like: Will LeBron James pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as NBA's leading scorer of all time? We look at the numbers so far and what they hold for the future.
Guess the Lakers players!
