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It's not going to be easy for the Golden State Warriors to finish at the top of Western Conference this season. Many important players have been traded to the West that will make life difficult for them.
Houston Rockets have added Chris Paul to their roster and will give a tough fight for all the teams in Western Conference. Also, don't forget the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have added two dependable All-Star caliber players in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have acquired Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford and they will join hands with Karl-Anthony Towns and Wiggins to form a better team this season. Also, the San Antonio Spurs having Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Tony Parker alongside the best head coach Gregg Popovich will form a good competitive team as well.
After all the trades this off-season, guess the top-5 team who will give a tough fight to GSW in Western Conference and find out whether your guesses are right.
#5 New Orleans Pelicans
Starting line-up :
Jure Holiday, E'Twaun Moore, Dante Cunningham, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins.
The New Orleans Pelicans have the most devastating Power Forward(Anthony Davis) and Center (DeMarcus Cousins) combination in the NBA. This team will dominate in defense with this deadly combo.
This team has a good point guard in Jure Holiday and he was expected to lead the team in 3-point shooting and to contribute more to the offensive department. Moore and Cunningham will be the other players to start along with them. If these two guys come good, then this Pelicans team will give a tough fight to GSW because of their size.
New Orleans has managed to include two key players namely Jameer Nelson and Ian Clark to their roster. Both these players will come off from the bench. Along with Jordan Crawford, they have good bench strength and they need to fire to compete against the Warriors. Not to mention Rajon Rondo is yet to make his return.
Key players :
Anthony Davis: 28.4 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 2.6 APG.
DeMarcus Cousins: 28.9 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 5.8 APG.
Jrue Holiday: 13.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 6.1 APG.
Last Season Stats :
34-48 in the regular season (10th in the west).
#4 Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota teammates
Starting line-up :
Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Timberwolves have done a good job by adding the 3-time All-Star, Jimmy Butler to their roster in a trade which sends Zach LaVine to Chicago Bulls. Jimmy Butler can perform some good plays in pressure situations and that is where this team was lagging in the previous season.
The young guns, Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins will lead the team in offensive plays. Both these players had a good last season and Timberwolves want them to carry their form into this season.They have also acquired the veteran Point Guard, Jeff Teague and this will make the team much better in the offense.
Jamal Crawford, another addition to the Timberwolves roaster will play a key role from the bench. Dieng and Bjelica are the other players who will give more strength to the team's frontcourt depth. If all these guys play good as a single unit, surely they will give themselves a chance to get the better of Golden State.
Key players :
Butler: 14.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.1 APG.
Towns: 21.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG.
Wiggins: 19.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG.
Last Season Stats :
31-51 in the regular season (13th in the west).
#3 Oklahoma City Thunder
Starting line-up :
Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Andre Roberson, Carmelo Anthony, Steven Adams.
Oklahoma City Thunder has acquired a 4-time All-Star, Paul George and a 10-time All-Star, Carmelo Anthony and they will form a 'Big 3' alongside the beast, Russel Westbrook. OKC was the team which improved the most this off-season. Now, this team is not very much dependent on Westbrook as they were in the last season and this will reduce Westbrook's workload.
After these two big additions, OKC will play tough basketball at both the ends of the court. Steven Adams, who played at his very best last season, will start at center and needs to produce the same impact that he produced previously. Along with these three big guns, this team will make the day worse not only for Golden States Warriors but to all the NBA teams.
Andre Roberson will be another starter and Jerami Grant, Felton and Patterson will add the strength to their bench. If these guys give good support to the 'Big-3' players, they can get over the Golden State Warriors.
Key players :
R Westbrook: 19.5 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 10.4 APG.
P George: 19.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG.
C Anthony: 20.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG.
Last Season Stats :
47-35 in the regular season (6th in west), lost in Western Conference First Round.
#2 San Antonio Spurs
Starting line-up :
Dejounte Murray / Patty Mills(PG), Danny Green(SG), Kyle Anderson(SF), LaMarcus Aldridge(PF), Pau Gasol(C).
Injury Concerns :
Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker.
San Antonio Spurs is still one of the best teams in the league as they process some big players like Leonard, Aldridge and the experienced Tony Parker. Danny Green, another vital man will play a big role in the 3-point shooting and defensive plays.
Murray or Patty Mills will take the responsibility to start at Point Guard till the return of Tony Parker. Pau Gasol, the two-time NBA champion, has to give his team a good start to the season. Kyle Anderson will get the starting job till Leonard becomes fit.
This team might not look threatening at this point but once Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard recover from injury, they will play with great potential.Leonard and Aldridge will be their key men in both ends of the court alongside Parker. The Spurs also have the luxury of Gregg Popovich, the best head coach in this league who brings the best from all his players.
Rudy Gay and Manu Ginobili will come off from the bench and they have to give some good plays from the bench so that they can be a threat to the Warriors.
Key players :
Leonard: Yet to play.
Aldridge: 22.6 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.0 APG.
Last Season Stats :
61-21 in the regular season(2nd in west), lost in Western Conference Finals.
#1 Houston Rockets
James Harden and Chris Paul
Starting line-up :
Chris Paul / Eric Gordon(G), James Harden(G), Trevor Ariza(F), Ryan Anderson(F), Clint Capela(C).
Acquiring Chris Paul (9 time NBA All-Star) was the best move made by Houston this off-season. Harden was the lone warrior for Houston in the previous seasons and this move will reduce Harden's workload and benefit the team on both ends.
The experienced forward duo (Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza) will play a vital role for the team and they have to support Harden and Paul in order to perform better as a team. Clint Capela, who has had decent stats in the last season will take the center position for the team and this youngster is expected to become the next big man for Houston.
Eric Gordon, the man who received 'NBA Sixth man of the year' award last season might get the starting job for Houston. He has also won the latest 'Three-point contest' happened as part of All-Star weekend and his team will rely on his 3-point shooting. Houston was expected to dominate 3-point shooting percentage as they possess the likes of Eric Gordon, James Harden, Ryan Anderson.
PJ Tucker and Moute will serve the team from the bench. This team will produce a huge challenge for the Golden State Warriors as they know how to play and dominate as a team. They already spoiled the party of the Golden State on their opening night and expected to continue the same throughout this season.
Key players :
Harden: 29.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 10.0 APG.
Chris Paul: 4.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 10.0 APG (just one game).
Last Season Stats :
55-27 in the regular season(3rd in west), lost in Western Conference semi-finals.
Guess the Lakers players!
