Dark Horse Teams this 2012-2013 NBA Season (Eastern Conference)
The Eastern Conference is home to the defending champions, the Miami Heat. But it also is a home to a couple of teams aspiring to win the Larry O’Brien trophy this season. Today, we’re going to take a look at two teams who have a shot to make the seemingly impossible possible, and beat the Heat in order to represent the East in the NBA Finals.
Here are the Dark Horse teams for the 2012-2013 NBA Season (Eastern Conference):
1.) Philadelphia 76ers
Yes, without Andre Iguodala, the 76ers are looking like a very different team. Whether that is a good thing remains to be seen. The 76ers felt that they made a huge upgrade when they traded Iguodala to acquire Andrew Bynum.
Bynum is regarded as one of the top centers in the league (some claim that he’s #2 behind Dwight Howard) and he will be featured by Philly as the number 1 option on offense. The 76ers will run an offense similar to what the Orlando Magic implemented when Dwight was still playing for them.
Doug Collins will put Bynum in the middle and let him operate. Bynum will be surrounded by 3 point shooters in Dorell Wright, Jason Richardson, Jrue Holiday, Spencer Hawes etc. This kind of set up worked well for the Magic, as it even led them to the NBA Finals in 2009. But it’s important to take note that Bynum and Howard are two different players.
But the 76ers have everything good going for them. As long as Bynum is healthy, they can shock the world and beat the Heat. Miami is weak on the inside and have no one who can stop Andrew Bynum. Well, they have Joel Anthony, but we all know he can’t really stop Bynum.
If Bynum can stay healthy and the 76ers are able to develop chemistry ASAP, they may just have what it takes to oust the Miami Heat and go all the way to the NBA Finals.
2.) New York Knicks
If anyone can beat LeBron and the Heatles it’s going to be Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks. Carmelo is being pressured right now by the media, and the whole NBA sphere. The moment LeBron James won a title, the pressure and attention immediately shifted to Anthony.
The good news is that Melo’s Knicks may have what it takes to beat the Heat this season. Now that Mike “No” D’antoni is out of New York, the Knicks have become a defensive oriented team that ranked among the league leaders last season. Of course, Tyson Chandler should be given a lot of credit for the Knicks’ vast improvement on defense, but Coach Mike Woodson also deserves credit for instilling a defensive mentality among his players.
The best part about it is that even Carmelo Anthony is buying in on the defensive system. What separates Melo from LeBron James and the other elite players in the league is his willingness to play defense every single night. Anthony played good defense last season under Mike Woodson. If he can somehow play at that high intensity on defense every game, there’s no doubt that Melo will be considered as one of the true top players in the league. He may even win the MVP award if he can lead the Knicks to a 50+ win record.
With the Knicks having re-acquired point guard Raymond Felton, the Knicks look to have a much more potent offense this season. They also have veteran Jason Kidd to play as back up for Felton. And don’t forget the 35 yr. old rookie Pablo Prigioni, also providing great play making and veteran leadership off the bench.
Having added Camby and Kurt Thomas to provide depth in the front court, the Knicks have a lot of big bodies to throw at the Miami Heat’s superstars. The key is to have Amar’e Stoudemire healthy throughout the season and the playoffs. If Stoudemire can stay healthy and play at a high level, there’s no reason why the Knicks can’t finish as a Top 1 or 2 seed in the East and even represent the conference in the NBA Finals..