{"id":861,"date":"2015-10-21T13:53:09","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T18:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=861"},"modified":"2015-10-25T00:45:38","modified_gmt":"2015-10-25T05:45:38","slug":"thunder-and-cavs-are-scheduled-for-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=861","title":{"rendered":"Thunder and Cavs are Scheduled for NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"OKLAHOMA<\/a>
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – MAY 07: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after fouled by DeAndre Jordan #6 of the Los Angeles Clippers in Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena on May 7, 2014 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n
It won’t be the Golden State show in 2015-16 as the cream of the NBA with names of James, Durant, Love and Westbrook will lead their respective teams into the Finals of the Association in late Spring 2016.\u00a0 This could be the year that those\u00a0three\u00a0 (plus\u00a0Love) reunite for another historic Finals as the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavs\u00a0have the best top heavy talent\u00a0for the NBA Championship run.\u00a0 Add the defending champs Golden State Warriors, the Chicago Bulls, and San Antonio Spurs, you have your top 5\u00a0 in the highest echelon of teams pre-season.\u00a0 Injuries always play a part in making champions and adjustments in league rankings will be noted throughout the season.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top\u00a0Five teams\u00a0in the NBA:<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
    \n
  1. \n
    Oklahoma City<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n
    San Antonio<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n
    Cleveland<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n
    Golden State<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n
    Chicago<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    <\/h6>\n
    2nd grouping of teams on the cusp for Title considerations:<\/span><\/h6>\n
    6.\u00a0 Los Angeles Clippers.\u00a0 7.\u00a0 Houston\u00a0 8.\u00a0 Atlanta\u00a0 9.\u00a0 Memphis<\/span><\/h6>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The rest of the league have little or no chance in bringing an NBA title to their town<\/span>.<\/h6>\n
    <\/h6>\n
    Top 10 players in the world:\u00a0 Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Hardin, Tim Duncan, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"James-Harden-Lead-Image\"<\/a>
    Photo Credit: http:\/\/www.nicekicks.com\/2015\/03\/02\/fear-beard-look-james-hardens-best-performances\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    <\/h6>\n
    Western Conference Rankings:<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n
      \n
    1. \n
      OKC<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    2. \n
      San Antonio<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    3. \n
      Golden State<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    4. \n
      LAC<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    5. \n
      Memphis<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    6. \n
      Houston<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    7. \n
      New Orleans<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
    8. \n
      Dallas<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Eastern Conference Rankings:<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n
        \n
      1. \n
        Cleveland<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      2. \n
        Chicago<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      3. \n
        Atlanta<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      4. \n
        Washington<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      5. \n
        Miami<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      6. \n
        Toronto<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      7. \n
        Boston<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
      8. \n
        Indiana<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \"0853055001435455320_filepicker\"<\/a>
        Photo Credit: http:\/\/thoughtsonthehardwood.sportsblog.com\/posts\/2723848\/ranking-the-number-one-nba-draft-picks-of-the-last-20-years.html<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Top Photo:\u00a0 Kevin Durant<\/a>\u00a0<\/span> (Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n
        <\/div>\n

        <\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        It won’t be the Golden State show in 2015-16 as the cream of the NBA…<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n

        <\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[298,291,300,286,296,285,303,297,287,288,304,292,58,61,293,289,290,301,179,284,54,294,305,295,302,299],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-recent-posts","tag-anthony-davis","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-boston-celtics","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-chirs-paul","tag-cleveland-cavs","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-demarcus-cousins","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-houston-rockets","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-james-hardin","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kevin-love","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-miami-heat","tag-nba","tag-okla-city-thunder","tag-russell-westbrook","tag-stepeh-curry","tag-the-finals","tag-tim-duncan-blake-griffin","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-washington-wizzards"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":226,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=861"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions\/874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}