NBA Watch: Gunning for Glory

Basketball's Biggest Prize?

The NBA season is just over a month old, and I feel it's about time we take a good look at the teams that are favourites to win the title at the end of the season.

Miami Heat: LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade – it doesn't get any bigger than this. The Heat came within inches of winning the title last season but came undone against a resurgent Dallas Mavericks team. James is showing how effective he can be without Wade. The Heat are favourites for another long playoff run and with Mario Chalmers, rookie Norris Cole and Udonis Haslem, chances are high that the Heat will storm their way to an NBA title this time around.

Los Angeles Lakers: Off the court, the Lakers' long-time Head Coach Phil Jackson retired following the end of the last season and he was replaced by former Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown. The Lakers boast two of the biggest men in the league, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, on their roster and they show that they can punish teams inside the paint. Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes have proved that they can shut down any five-star offences. Oh, and a certain Kobe Bryant averaged 43 points per game when the Lakers were up against worthy playoff opposition. After being blanked 4- 0 by Dallas last time around in the conference semi finals, this proud franchise will be out for revenge (and a title) this time around.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Two words: Kevin Durant. Durant had been playing an enormous amount of basketball during the NBA lockout, and it shows. He looks a lot tougher than ever before and has added a lot of moves to his arsenal. In my opinion, he's the best allaround player in the league after James. Also look out for Russell Westbrook, he's lighting up the league and he's a player you'd love to hate.

Chicago Bulls: The Chicago Bulls haven't won an NBA championship since 1998. It seems like a long time ago that Michael Jordan was on the roster of that championship winning team. Fourteen seasons later, the Bulls finally look like they have a title contender. With Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose, the Bulls are tough to beat at home; Rose can destroy any defence in the league, and Deng can shut down anyone from James to Bryant on a given night.

Portland Trailblazers: LaMarcus Aldridge is on quite the run. It's hard to catch him, and he makes scoring look easy. Given the fact that the Blazers lost key man Brandon Roy to premature retirement, this team looked beaten before the start of the season. Gerald Wallace will run, jump, punch and claw his way to productive nights and usually does so every time the Blazers play. Nicolas Batum and Raymond Felton are big-name spare parts, but in all, despite the loss of Brandon Roy, the Blazers look built for a long playoff run.

Outside chances: The Dallas Mavericks, defending champions of the NBA, the Boston Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies will all make the playoffs comfortably, but I don't see them going on a very long run. The Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs too should make the playoffs. The Spurs lost key man Manu Ginobili to injury and his return is still not finalized.

The games are coming in thick and fast, and I, for one, know it's going to get exciting as the season goes on.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.asp?storyID=7997&sectionID=4&issueID=194
Image Credit:http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/replicate/EXID24107/images/Laker-Parade-2010-Celebration-Kobe-82.jpg
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UekSQkajhsU