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Spurs will be top 2 not a doubt in my mind, the Thunder lost Kevin Martin and got no one in return I think it will be Clippers and Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs were seconds from an NBA le in June, but it could be a long time before they even make it back to the NBA Finals the way the West is shaping up.
OUR NEW PREDICTION ENGINEThese Summer Forecast predictions are powered by ESPN Forecast.
With the Thunder healthy, the Clippers reloaded thanks to a busy summer and the Rockets forming their own super team of sorts, the Western Conference is as top-heavy and wide-open as ever.
Which one will take the crown in 2013-14?
For that answer, we consulted our ESPN Forecast panel.
To participate in the discussion and perhaps get your opinion published on this page, #ESPNForecast is the Twitter hashtag to use. Or you can just follow along with @ESPNNBA.
Here's the voting breakdown:
Forecast: 2013-14 Western Conference champions
RANK TEAM VOTES 1
Oklahoma City Thunder
2012-13 record: 60-22
Lost in Western Conference semifinals
Predicted 2013-14 record: 58-24342 Follow the discussion »
Spurs will be top 2 not a doubt in my mind, the Thunder lost Kevin Martin and got no one in return I think it will be Clippers and Spurs
The stars aligned for us last year. Blown opportunity not likely to return.
If Duncan doesn't fall off a cliff, the Spurs can beat OKC next year. Year 1 of the Reign of Kawhi baby.
I hate to say it but you might be correct.I HOPE you are correct.
Wow. Can't believe ESPN disrespects the Spurs job of reloading this summer.
They are #3 fwiw.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/95...west-standings
They have a point. No way this team got past the healthy Thunders of last year
As long as the defense is still there, the Spurs will be in the mix.
Bull . Harden was a huge key to them beating the Spurs the year prior. Without him it isn't close to the same team.
We would have beaten the Thunder last year even with Westbrook.
Easily.
Caps on the whole le would have more convincing.
4/10
None of these rankings are taking into account Kawhi's increased role next season (plays actually designed for him).
In fact it's the reason we didn't beat the Heat. We gave up on our defense from game 4 onwards. The irony is that Spoelstra made it seem like their problem was their defense. But his decision to start Mike Miller shows that clearly was not the case. The problem is they couldn't score against our best defensive lineups. We also could have had success by attacking their weakest defenders in isolation but we abandoned it cause it worked so well in game 5.
This . . . and if I hear one more time about the Thunder finishing with the best regular season record in the West and their historically great point differential, I'm going to throw up.
1) Despite the lack of publicity, the Spurs had the best regular season record the previous two years and only Parker's injury kept them from making it three straight. How quickly people seem to forget, but they had an extremely road heavy first three quarters of the season or so and constant injuries throughout, yet they actually held them off for a long time, before suc bing near the end.
2) Due to their usual pristine health (until the Westbrook injury, of course) and the fact that Brooks doesn't have to do an ounce of minute managing, of course they were going to have an insane point differential.
So long as they're healthy and neither Duncan or Parker is significantly worse, the Spurs should be viewed as the favorites in the West.
Couldn't get timely stops in Game 6... They were up like 13 at one point while the 3rd was winding down, and they just could not get stops. The 2nd unit guys have to be able to get stops, so I'm hoping that regardless who we have out there is capable of defending, and defending well. I like Neal, but dude just made some really poor decisions that game while guarding Mike Miller. Or trying to guard him I should say.
The Spurs are as invisible as...
an old person is to a teenager.
Bingo. We wont make it back to the Finals with this big 3. Everything went our way with Westbrook and Kobe going down....Memphis trading away Rudy Gay...the Rockets not having Howard...and the Clippers not being healthy. Pop ruined our last chance at a 5th ring with this big 3...we wont be back to the Finals anytime soon. Anyone who thinks Leonard is gonna be the new franchise Spurs player is grasping at straws. He's a good player but not a franchise player by any means.
Analysts still using 11-12 season data base imho.
No biggie. TBH, when was the last time we were projected to be among the top teams?
Yeah, the Spurs would have been contenders if they had only added Byron Mullehahahahahahahahahahaha
LOL, Thunder. In the last two seasons, they replaced Harden with Martin, and Martin with Lamb. Talk about a skill position going off a cliff.The San Antonio Spurs were seconds from an NBA le in June, but it could be a long time before they even make it back to the NBA Finals the way the West is shaping up.
OUR NEW PREDICTION ENGINE
With the Thunder healthy, the Clippers reloaded thanks to a busy summer and the Rockets forming their own super team of sorts, the Western Conference is as top-heavy and wide-open as ever.
Which one will take the crown in 2013-14?
For that answer, we consulted our ESPN Forecast panel.
To participate in the discussion and perhaps get your opinion published on this page, #ESPNForecast is the Twitter hashtag to use. Or you can just follow along with @ESPNNBA.
Here's the voting breakdown:
Forecast: 2013-14 Western Conference champions
RANK TEAM VOTES 1
Oklahoma City Thunder
2012-13 record: 60-22
Lost in Western Conference semifinals
Predicted 2013-14 record: 58-24342 Follow the discussion » 
That's what people just like you said about our WCFs trip in 2012. We got better.
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