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Home , Alec Burks, Al Jefferson, Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala, Anthony Tolliver

WESTERN CONFERENCE EASTERN CONFERENCE SOUTHEAST DIVISION ATLANTIC DIVISION CENTRAL DIVISION PACIFIC DIVISION NORTHWEST DIVISION SOUTHWEST DIVISION 2014-15 H H H NBA Finals. representing theconference inthe a chance asany team out West of team says, the Thunder have asgood If Durant’s injury isasminorthe the league’s best 3-pointshooters. addition of , oneof verge of breaking through with the OUTLOOK COACH C (3.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg) F (15.1 ppg, 2.7 bpg) F (32.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg) G Reggie Jackson (13.1 ppg, 4.1 apg) G (21.8 ppg, 6.9 apg) THE STARTING 5 Spurs are primedto make arun. Duncan, Parker andManuGinobili, the and seemingly ageless trioof stars in than any other coach, andanunselfish team ready to roll intheplayoffs better ich managingminutes andhaving his is win back-to-back titles. With Popov only thingtheSpurs haven’t done yet that’s what theSpurs do. About the OUTLOOK COACH C (8.2 ppg, 52.3% FG) F (15.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg) F (12.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) G (9.1 ppg, 41.5% 3s) G (16.7 ppg, 5.7 apg) THE STARTING 5 has energized thefranchise. playoffs after several dormant years ment of last season’s return to the savvy, andtheexperience andexcite early on, butPierce adds veteran will betough, andBeal will bemissed time. Replacing ’s defense been said aboutthe Wizards inalong OUTLOOK COACH C (13.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg) F Nene(14.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg) F (13.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) G (17.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) G (19.3 ppg, 8.8 apg) THE STARTING 5 only won onepostseason series. in their20th season, theRaptors have will bemeasured intheplayoffs. Now Atlantic looks likely, buttrueprogress Johnson. A repeat titleinthe weak liams anddefensive stopper James its benchby addingscorer Lou Wil and F Patrick Patterson, andimproved by re-signing Lowry, GGreivis Vasquez OUTLOOK COACH C Jonas Valanciunas (11.3ppg, 8.8 rpg) F (10.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg) G/F (10.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg) G DeMar DeRozan (22.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) G (17.9 ppg, 7.4 apg) THE STARTING 5 Conference title. this team shouldn’t win theEastern in theroad, butthere’s noreason why time, andthere are boundto bebumps the talent meshes. Itcould take some this season along with how well all will determine how far Cleveland goes immense firepower. Defense, though, tempo offense to maximize theCavs’ OUTLOOK COACH C (11.7 ppg, 9.2 rpg) F (26.1 ppg, 12.5 rpg) F LeBron James (27.1 ppg, 6.3 apg) G (15.0 ppg, 3.0 apg) G (20.8 ppg, 6.1 apg) THE STARTING 5 will beconsidered adisappointment. time infranchise history, their season Western Conference finals for thefirst Clippers don’t atleast advance to the they need to win a championship. If the to give Rivers andhisplayers whatever billion to buy theteam andhas vowed Microsoft CEO, spentarecord $2 OUTLOOK COACH C DeAndre Jordan (10.4 pgg, 13.6 rpg) F (9.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) F (24.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg) G J.J. Redick (15.2 ppg, 2.2apg) G ChrisPaul (19.1 ppg, 10.7 apg) THE STARTING 5 CLIPPERS WIZARDS WASHINGTON Top teams in each conference asselected by writers Tim Reynolds and Jon Krawczynski. , fourth season , first season , second season , eighthseason , 19th season , fourth season The Thunder are onthe Everyone isback, because Pretty good, which hasn’t Toronto kept its core intact Blatt hasinstalled anup- Steve Ballmer, theformer CAVALIERS CLEVELAND THUNDER RAPTORS TORONTO SPURS SAN ANTONIO NBA SEASON PREVIEW - - - THE STARTING 5 top andthehopeof abetter future. functional organization stability atthe coach inplace gives dys alongtime having the11-time championasa president. Even ifthatgoal falls short, team inhisfirst full season as team believes theKnicks can beaplayoff OUTLOOK COACH C (6.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg) F (13.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) F (27.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg) (6.7G ImanShumpert ppg, 4.2 rpg) G Jose Calderon (11.4 ppg, 4.7 apg) THE STARTING 5 ence championship. can contend for theEastern Confer Gasol inthemix, theBullsbelieve they go, that’s not bad. With Rose back and wound up with Gasol. As consolations Anthony infree agency andultimately OUTLOOK COACH C (12.6 ppg, 11.3rpg) F (17.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg) F Mike Dunleavy (11.3ppg, 4.2 rpg) G (13.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) G (15.9 ppg, 4.3 apg) THE STARTING 5 ites inthe Western Conference. Warriors shouldbeamongthefavor years, especially with Bogut —the stay healthy —abigifthepast two the much-hyped Kerr andifthey can bench shouldbebetter, they landed be asgood asany intheNBA, the OUTLOOK COACH C (7.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg) F (18.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg) F (9.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg) G (18.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) G (24.0 ppg, 8.5 apg) THE STARTING 5 on thefloor withhimmost of thetime. It assures Aldridge will have abigman of ChrisKaman to complement Lopez. move thissummer with theacquisition in the West. The team madeasmart the Blazers will nodoubt compete semifinals for thefirst timein 14 years, year’s appearance intheconference their starters andboosted by last OUTLOOK COACH C (11.1ppg, 8.5 rpg) F LaMarcus Aldridge (26.2 ppg, 10.6 rpg) F (13.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg) G (16.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg) G (20.7 ppg, 5.6 apg) THE STARTING 5 since 2000. not namedNowitzki for thefirst time chance yet to have aleading scorer Parsons give theMavericks theirbest only championshipin2011. Ellisand emotional leader for thefranchise’s ing with thereturn of Chandler, the tough Western Conference, start expectations of ahighfinishinthe OUTLOOK COACH C (8.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg) F (21.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg) F ChandlerParsons (16.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg) G (19.0 ppg, 5.7 apg) G (12.1ppg, 7.0 apg) THE STARTING 5 as theseason goes along. newcomers. Miamilikely will get better and proven stars, plusasolid core of Finals. Butthere’s still aproven system four years thatendedintheNBA talented asthey’ve beeninthepast OUTLOOK COACH C ChrisBosh (16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg) F Josh McRoberts (8.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) F LuolDeng (16.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) G (19.0 ppg, 4.7 apg) G NorrisCole (6.4 ppg, 3.0 apg) MAVERICKS DALLAS TRAIL BLAZERS PORTLAND ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// , seventh season , first season , fifth season , first season , seventh season ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// , third season No, theHeat aren’t as hassaid he The Bulls wooed Carmelo The starting lineupmight With thereturn of allof Several factors are fueling WARRIORS GOLDEN STATE KNICKS NEW YORK BULLS HEAT - - - - son for thefirst timesince 2002-03. the playoffs after sitting outlast sea the piece thatreturns theNuggets to hoping theacquisition of Afflalo willbe with aleft tibiastress fracture. Shaw’s McGee missed achunk of theseason son suffered kneeinjuries and JaVale charge as J.J. Hickson andNate Robin by injuries inShaw’s first season in OUTLOOK F (17.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg) F (6.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg) G (9.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg) G MichaelConley (17.2 ppg, 6.0 apg) THE STARTING 5 G (14.3 ppg, 6.1 apg) THE STARTING 5 expected. ing intheplayoffs would bebetter than season would beamajorfeat. Advanc on hold. Reaching theplayoffs this will force Indianato putthetitlehopes hurt. Losing amonth later OUTLOOK COACH C Roy (10.8 Hibbert ppg, 6.6 rpg) F (14.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg) F C.J. Miles (9.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg) G (13.9 ppg, 2.3rpg) G (10.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg) THE STARTING 5 season. to make progress inhissecond full Len to show improvement andPlumlee counting onsecond-year Alex much to strengthen its frontcourt, fastbreak points. The team didn’t do year ago, when they ledtheNBA in to play even faster thanthey dida OUTLOOK COACH C (8.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg) or (13.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg) F (6.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg) F P.J. Tucker (9.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) G Goran Dragic (20.3 ppg, 5.9 apg) G (17.7 ppg, 5.5 apg) THE STARTING 5 COACH C (9.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) F (16.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) F (13.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg) G (18.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg) PG (17.6 ppg, 8.8 apg) THE STARTING 5 to the Western Finals. enough to helpthemmake arunback and they believe theirbenchisdeep record four straight playoff berths, satisfied with extending thefranchise- ance coach. The Grizzlies will not be some money onamental endur gave Joerger anextension andspent Pera shook upthefront office inMay, OUTLOOK COACH C (14.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg) four seed intheEast. the Hornets could compete for atop Stephenson inback-to-back seasons, signing free agents Jefferson and seems like adistant memory. After campaign from three years ago now the playoffs last season, andthe 7-59 and new expectations after reaching OUTLOOK COACH C (21.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg) F (9.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg) F MichaelKidd-Gilchrist (7.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) G (13.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg) G (17.7 ppg, 6.1 apg) THE STARTING 5 better team. surgeries, they mightendupbeinga Williams stay healthy after offseason a titlecontender. ButifLopez and big-spending ways hadassembled went into last season thinkingtheir are theexpectations after theNets OUTLOOK COACH C (20.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg) F (6.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg) F Bojan Bogdanovic (rookie) G (15.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg) , fifth season , second season , second season LionelHollins, first season , second season , second season Losing Lance Stephenson Hornacek wants theSuns The Nuggets were hithard Controlling owner Robert Charlotte hasanew name The payroll islower andso GRIZZLIES MEMPHIS HORNETS CHARLOTTE NUGGETS DENVER PACERS NETS SUNS PHOENIX » - The 2014-15 NBA regular season tips off Tuesday night. The NBA playoffs start April 18. - - - F (12.1ppg, 6.9 rpg) F Trevor Ariza (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) G (25.4 ppg, 6.1 apg) G (10.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg) THE STARTING 5 G Marcus (rookie) Smart THE STARTING 5 team’s immediate future. president may bemore crucialto this Monroe leaves, Van Gundy theteam but ifthePistons flounderagain and to helpDetroit endits playoff drought, season. Van Gundy thecoach will try already isgoing to miss thestart of the season acquisitions, althoughMeeks their outside shooting with theiroff OUTLOOK COACH C (13.5 ppg, 13.2 rpg) F (15.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg) F (16.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) G (15.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg) G (15.5 ppg, 7.6 apg) THE STARTING 5 contend for apostseason berth. though, theLakers have achance to and . IfBryant ishealthy, in thepreseason with lineup have already sprouted again problems thatcrippledlast year’s season’s 27-win team, andtheinjury say Los Angeles hasimproved last in Lakerland indecades. It’s tough to OUTLOOK COACH C (9.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg) F (13.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg) F Wesley Johnson (9.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg) G (13.8 ppg, 6.3 apg) G (12.5 ppg, 4.1 apg) THE STARTING 5 year away from being a factor. a surprise. It’s likely they’re atleast a youth andexperience will make them that better chemistry andamix of than many think. The Wolves hope tive Western Conference playoff mix closer to beinginthehyper competi Saunders believes the Wolves are alot bench for asecond tour inMinnesota, OUTLOOK COACH C Nikola Pekovic (17.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg) F (17.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg) F (17.1 ppgatKansas) G Kevin (19.1 Martin ppg, 38.7% 3s) G (9.5 ppg, 8.6 apg) THE STARTING 5 since 2009. round —orbeyond —for thefirst time Rockets could make itto thesecond fense. Ifthose two things happen, the if Ariza can improve their lackluster de the other starters can step upand trip to theplayoffs. The key will beif and almost are guaranteed another the Rockets have acore for success OUTLOOK COACH C (18.3 ppg, 12.2rpg) return to playoffs. brought from Spurs, and Hawks should prospered inBudenholzer’s scheme he Ferry. Teague, Horford andothers Levenson andgeneral manager Danny comments from co-owner Bruce agement following racially charged the roster andmuchturmoilinman OUTLOOK season COACH C (18.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg) F DeMarre Carroll (11.1ppg, 5.5 rpg) F (17.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg) G (12.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) G (16.5 ppg, 6.7 apg) THE STARTING 5 playoff-bound. still going to belookingupatthe as strong asever, Boston isprobably said, even ifRajon Rondo comes back assets for thefuture. That allbeing Celtics have done a great job collecting ers with hisstyle last year andthe OUTLOOK COACH C (8.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) F (13.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg) F (16.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) G (14.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg) PISTONS DETROIT , first season , first season FlipSaunders, first season Kevin McHale, fourth season , second , second season Makinghisreturn to the With Howard andHarden, There ismuchstability on Stevens impressed onlook The Pistons triedto bolster Ithasn’t beenthisbleak ROCKETS HOUSTON T’WOLVES MINNESOTA LAKERS LOS ANGELES CELTICS BOSTON HAWKS ATLANTA - - - - - BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TEAMS RANKEDTEAMS INORDEROF PREDICTED FINISH F (5.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg) F (20.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) G Ben McLemore (8.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg) G (11.4 ppg, 3.7 apg) THE STARTING 5 season. that was ranked last intheleague last own system andimprove onadefense teachable asSnyder looks to install his The young squad will bemore easily could beanadvantage for the Jazz. rather thanbeingaliability, this to training camp 25or younger. But young, with 15 of theplayers invited OUTLOOK COACH C (12.3ppg, 7.5 rpg) F (13.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg) F (16.2 ppg, 5.2 apg) G (14 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg) G (12.8 ppg, 3rpg, 5.7 apg) THE STARTING 5 emerge asaplayoff contender. If theclubcan stay healthy, itcould thrive asanundersized smallforward. determine whether the6-6Evans can his all-court game. Williams to istrying quicker onthefast break andexpand fense farther from thebasket, release Davis thefreedom to provide helpde side presence of the7-foot Asik to give OUTLOOK COACH C Omer Asik (5.8 ppg, 7.09 rpg) F (20.8 ppg, 10.0 rpg) F (14.5 ppg, 5.0 apg) G (15.4 ppg, 3.3 apg) G (14.3 ppg, 7.9 apg) THE STARTING 5 contract options picked up for 2015-16. Magic bosses, having both hadtheir Vaughn have theconfidence of the General manager Rob Hennigan and this group will needtime to mature. produce more wins thisseason, but top 3inthissummer’s . Itshould assembled despite not landingthe the young pieces theMagichave OUTLOOK COACH C Nikola Vucevic (14.2 ppg, 11.0 rpg) F ChanningFrye (11.1ppg, 5.1 rpg) F (14.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg) G (13.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg) G ElfridPayton (rookie) THE STARTING 5 win total of 19 wins. could struggle to match last season’s a singlestarter from last season and the season —theSixers don’t return — and with possibly out for indefinitely withashoulderinjury year MichaelCarter-Williams sidelined game losing streak. With rookie of the an NBA record last season with a26- OUTLOOK COACH F Henry Sims(11.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg) F (rookie) F Hollis Thompson (6.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) G K.J. McDaniels (rookie) G (13.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) THE STARTING 5 than just hisname. ounmpo isdrawing attention for more polished veteran, andGiannis Antetok Marshall. Parker already seems like a solid pointguard play from Knightand by injuries andoff-court issues, and to shake off a2013-14 season plagued 67-loss debacle. KiddneedsSanders only get better after last season’s OUTLOOK COACH C Larry Sanders (7.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg) F (rookie from Duke) F Ersan Ilyasova (11.2ppg, 6.2 rpg) G (8.0 ppg, 8.8 apg) G Brandon Knight(17.9 ppg, 4.9 apg) THE STARTING 5 likely endupinthesame spot. even ifthey improve theKings will division andadeepconference, so Sacramento also isstuck inadifficult defense remains amajorquestion. Malone can get theKings to play team any of theNBA’s best duos. Whether Gay, who showed they could score with late last season behindCousins and OUTLOOK COACH C DeMarcus Cousins (22.7 ppg, 11.7 rpg) BUCKS MILWAUKEE PELICANS , first season , fifth season , third season , second season , first season Michael Malone, second season The Jazz are seriously The Pelicans expect thein There isplenty to like about Grim. The 76ers matched Things seemingly can Sacramento madestrides 76ERS PHILADELPHIA KINGS SACRAMENTO MAGIC ORLANDO JAZZ UTAH - - -