Jason Timpf shares his six tiers of NBA Finals contenders at the midpoint of the season. What separates the Celtics, Nets, Warriors, and Bucks from the rest of the league? And will LeBron James’ Lakers or Luka Doncic’s Mavericks be able to fill in the missing piece to elevate their team to contender status?
Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
01:34 – 1: Top Contenders
02:28 – Are Celtics ready for the bright lights?
03:43 – Nets built for playoff success
05:25 – Can anyone handle Giannis?
06:59 – Warriors’ championship hangover
09:18 – 2: “Fatal Flaw” Contenders
09:40 – Will Nuggets’ defense fail them?
12:10 – Grizzlies’ half-court offense problem
13:10 – Where the Cavaliers will get beat
15:42 – 76ers’ playoff decline
16:44 – Clippers & Pelicans’ health issues
17:16 – 3: “If They Make the Right Trade” Tier
17:33 – Luka Doncic needs help in Dallas
19:16 – LeBron & Lakers’ biggest issue
22:53 – Heat lacking a physical forward
23:30 – 4: “Lack of Self-Awareness” Tier
26:30 – 5: “Interesting & Scrappy” Tier
28:14 – 6: “Actively & Intentionally Terrible” Tier
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28 Comments
this guy is the biggest warriors homer
LOL, we're halfway through the season. The Warriors are 20-21 and 3-16 on the road.
Will you still be talking about them flipping the switch when they finish in the bottom 7 and get bounced in the play in?
I"m a warriors fan and I don't trust them. THey may be board with the regular season but they know better than anyone that the habits you build in the regular season are what you rely on in the post season. They have almost no ability to pressure the rim outside of Steph (when he feels like it), Kuminga on the odd occasion and sometimes Wiggins when he is feeling particularly aggressive.
Defensively they are just getting old and can't be bothered to make those 2nd and 3rd efforts and they constantly overhelp in the paint and can't defend the 3pt line to save their life.
The roster construction is poor, the coaching is so so and their only true 3 level scorer outside of Steph is a turnover machine that would make Broadie blush. They have even less interior presence than the Nets in reality and if Dray or Loon dog get injured say good night completely for this team.
If they don't make any moves or changes it is simply proof that the entire team from ownership through coaches and Steph on down do not care anymore about contending. They have won so much they can't possibly be as hungry to compete and some in the organisation I think are just too arrogant to think they need to change.
Steph is generally such a likeable guy but a lot of this is on him. Not because of what he does on the court but because of what he refuses to do off it. He has the clout to force Joe and Bob to take drastic measures. Will soon see just how much they want to defend their title.
I agree with Boston's biggest weakness being themselves. But saying the brightest stage and leaving out that they actually went 1-1 against the nuggets and haven't versed the warriors at home (TD Garden) yet. Warriors are like 96 bulls at home.
Oh my God Jason, what if I can't get back to Youtube? What then Jason? What should I do then?
Warriors back to back 🔥🔥
This video confirmed a lot of things I suspected this guy Jason Timpf of being. I don't think I'll ever think of him as unbias again like I used to.
This guy always wrong
Warriors ain't going anywhere lol
Don't get me wrong I like the Warriors' culture, but they win this year. I am not watching the NBA anymore
This guy clearly doesnt watch the Nuggets. It is tiresome.
I agree that the warriors aren't winning because they aren't playing hard. But I dont think it's gonna change. Draymond wasn't even playing hard defense in the first 4 games of the finals last year. Which was a big reason I said they should've traded him after "the punch". Now he's back to podcasting. It's over for this year. & im a fan
Shouldn't the Grizzlies be in the lack of self awareness tier? That's the first team I thought of when I heard you say that.
People complaining about the warriors pick are hilarious. If they make the playoffs as the last seed, would you rather face them or the nuggets at the 1 seed?
Lol Mitchell not bad on defense stop wit the narratives… the same people who criticize cavs are the same who wanted kings to draft Ivey or kelp hali
Cavs got Mobley/ Allen Conley was old and slow cavs. Mobley/ Allen more agile athletic then Rudy
My god I had to stop listening after like 5 mins to this guy because he couldn't ride the Warriors and the Bucks any harder. Give the proper teams like Boston and Denver their deserved flowers instead of slurping on the Warriors who can't even win on the road this season.
"The greatest ability is AVAILABILITY" People that analyze the NBA (not Timpf, he does a good job here) never take AVAILABILITY into account. It applies to every team. Celtics need TimeLord. The Bucks need Middleton. The Nets need Kyrie/KD. The Warriors need Curry. You need to look at age, injury history, and size of the players. Then make your analysis on the odds of which guys will stay healthy. Those team GMs need to fortify at the trade deadline to make sure they shrink-wrap their stars during the regular season. So tired of lazy NBA analysts using "injury luck" as an excuse.
The Lakers need to go into the "Lack of Self Awareness" category. Going nowhere
great breakdown as always jason
Flipping C Wood? So they play Powell and McGee? This guy stupid. C Wood been the 2nd best on offense and the best defender since the injuries happened.
The Kings 4th un the West. Best team in the Pacific Division a you said they are a bad team 😂.
You don’t watch Kings game.
This guy gotta give the warriors a rest them boys finals run is over 😂 but then again the whole western conference is trash so there’s a chance
“Bucks and warriors are my championship favorite because they’ve won before” 😴😴😴😴😴
you usually have great videos jason but this one is a stinker. the fact that you just brushed off the nuggets, you said the celtics struggle against the better teams but they have the best record against teams above .500. also the fact that you put the warriors over the nuggets is insane, they’d have to go on a season saving run to be a top 5 seed, just please explain to me how they’re contenders when they’re not even above .500 even with their big 3 playing for the majority of the season.
Lakers are a mad sleeper team in the playoffs if Lebron & AD stay healthy
Love the show, but it’s laughable how little attention the Heat get on a week by week basis. It’s exciting to hear about the entire league, but only 45 seconds for last year’s ECF runner up? With Himmy Butler and Bam Bam?
Celtics will play D at a high level when time comes. They showed it at Dallas when they were mad. They are in a tier by themselves right now with the talent and depth.