ORLANDO – The Warriors, Rockets, Cavaliers, Celtics and 76ers were, arguably, the five best teams in the NBA last year. You might be wondering, why? What made these teams so good?
A cursory analysis gives us the obvious reason. Some of the best players in the world such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid were/are on these teams.
An easy evaluation, then, right?
Not so fast.
There is a more hidden, less palpable basis for why four of these teams played in the conference finals and the other had one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history.