MIAMI (AP) — Kevin Durant has been in the NBA for 18 seasons, one of 19 of which he missed while recovering from an Achilles tear. And in many of those seasons, they were the clear favorites in the race to make the NBA Finals when the calendar turned to March.
It doesn’t feel like that this season.
With very realistic title contenders in both conferences, things look wide open. And Durant — part of a Houston Rockets team that appears to be one of those contending clubs — isn’t complaining about it.
“Thank God for the second apron and the first apron,” Durant said.
It’s hard to imagine those words being spoken just a few years ago, but here we are. And with the current collective bargaining agreement and apron — payroll levels that, if exceeded, severely limit a team’s options on player movement and acquisitions — it’s hard to argue against Durant’s stance.
Detroit (perhaps unexpectedly) and defending champion Oklahoma City (as expected) have separated themselves a bit in the Eastern and Western conferences. The second-place teams right now – Boston in the East, San Antonio in the West – should be considered surprises on some level, given how the Celtics didn’t have Jayson Tatum and how the Spurs haven’t won a playoff series since Victor Wambayama was 13 years old.
Would anyone be surprised if the Pistons, Celtics, or New York or Cleveland emerged from the East? Probably not. Would anyone be surprised if the Thunder, Spurs, Houston, Minnesota or Denver survived a playoff challenge in the West? Then again, maybe not. And feel free to add some other teams to those lists as well.
Durant was asked over the weekend about his broader experience of this title run. His eyes sparkled.
“We wanted some parity and I think that’s exactly what we’ve gotten over the last few years,” he said. “I mean, it’s fun for everybody watching the game, not really knowing who will be there at the end of the season. And as a team, it gives you the confidence to know that even if you don’t play your best ball right now, nobody really is. … Teams are trying to figure out what lineups they want to use, (after) trades, all that stuff, so it’s a fun time to be in the league.”
fun. Now that’s an interesting choice of words.
The West is very strict, as it almost always seems to be. Houston started Monday in third place, just two losses ahead of the sixth-place Los Angeles Lakers, just 3 1/2 games ahead of seventh-place Phoenix. On that side of the league, as has been the case in each of the last two seasons, a .600 winning percentage in the regular season probably won’t even be enough to guarantee home-court advantage in Round 1 of the playoffs.
fun?
“I don’t know if fun is the word,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “You try to handle your own business and take care of yourself and play the right way and try to get healthy, as healthy as you possibly can going into the playoffs. You can’t take off nights in our conference. You can go from 3 to 7 very quickly.”
According to Bet MGM Sportsbook, the Thunder are still favorites to win the title, with the Nuggets (+700) and Spurs (+750) almost even-money (+150). Cleveland is a slight favorite to win the East, followed by Boston and Detroit.
But This is the NBA’s parity era – Seven franchises have won titles in the last seven years, something never seen before in league history. It’s not unimaginable to think that an eighth different champion is on the way. Durant clearly expects the Rockets to be the next name on that list, and there’s no shortage of teams who think they can make a title run, too.
Believe it or not, the playoffs will begin next month. The final 20 games are meant to create position for some teams, build momentum for others, and find out what works best when the games matter most.
“You never know who can make a run in the playoffs,” Durant said. “We’re looking forward to using these games to get better and move forward and we’ll see what happens.”
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