The Whiteboard: 3 dark horse NBA title contenders to keep an eye on

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Last summer, Big 3s around the NBA dissolved and the Golden State Warriors’ vice grip on league supremacy finally loosened. After an offseason full of player movement, the 2019-20 season would be an exciting one for many reasons, but the greatest source of anticipation came from uncertainty: For the first time in what felt like forever, we didn’t know who was supposed to win the title that year.

Over the first five months of the season, three teams predictably separated themselves from the rest of the pack: the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks. Before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, those three elite teams felt like the consensus title favorites.

However, a four-and-a-half layover between our last NBA game and the resumption of the season on July 31 leaves quite a bit of room for dark horses to sneak in and wreak some havoc with a couple months of streaky basketball. The better team usually comes out on top over the course of a seven-game series, but what happens when the better team hasn’t played in months, is a little rusty, can’t hit a 3 and is dealing with the same existential sense of dread we’ve all felt since COVID-19 and George Floyd’s murder? Playing games in a bubble without fans would’ve been weird enough; doing so during such a time of civil unrest is unprecedented.

Under such highly unusual circumstances, we’d be remiss to overlook a few teams that could defy expectations, crash the 2020 NBA Playoffs and walk out of Orlando with a championship.

Honorable Mentions: Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets

Toronto Raptors

Sure, a team with a top-three record doesn’t seem like much of a “dark horse” pick, but has a defending champion and legitimately great team ever gotten so little respect in the title contender conversation? Kawhi Leonard’s departure is the biggest reason for that, but his absence hasn’t stopped the Toronto Raptors from establishing themselves among the NBA’s elite once again.

We’ve already covered the various reasons the Raptors can win it all — Pascal Siakam has made the leap to stardom, this team has a plethora of versatile wings and their punishing, second-ranked defense thrives on the kind of sloppy offense we’re bound to see after all this time off.

Throw in Nick Nurse’s coaching savvy, the amount of playoff experience on this roster and the fact that we rarely got to see Toronto at full strength this season and this team shouldn’t be so overlooked in the title conversation.

Houston Rockets

Perhaps the most popular dark horse pick, the Houston Rockets‘ are nearly the biggest beneficiary of all this time off (second only to the Lakers, who are getting a well-rested LeBron James). James Harden had been running on fumes for over a month, and though Russell Westbrook was thriving with all the extra space provided by Mike D’Antoni’s ultra small-ball approach, this entire team needed a break.

The Rockets got that and a lot more. Harden is skinny now, and for those hung up on his playoff failures, he won’t have to worry about competing in a typical, raucous playoff atmosphere. P.J. Tucker, an absolute beast capable of guarding 5s and spreading the floor out to his vintage corner 3-point spot, has had time to mentally and physically prepare his body for the grind of playing center for 2-3 months.

This is a make-or-break postseason for Houston. It’s likely D’Antoni’s last year, Daryl Morey’s attempts at building a champion around Harden have all fallen flat, and this extremely bold experiment of starting players 6-foot-8 and under could pay off with a few weeks of hot shooting. If the Rockets can turn all this rest into a flurry of two-way havoc, and actually sustain that small-ball blitz, they’ll be the team no one wants to play.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Celtics are probably a more sensible pick, and the Nuggets are an intriguing one if the rumors about Nikola Jokic’s four-pack are true. But for this final spot, we’re going with the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that truly embodies the spirit of “dark horse,” which is something relatively unknown that unexpectedly wins or succeeds.

The Sixers were fairly disappointing this season, currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a ho-hum 39-26 record and mediocre plus-2.2 point differential. The Al Horford experiment alongside Joel Embiid was clunky, and because Philly still lacks shooting, Ben Simmons’ inability/disinterest from beyond the 3-point arc continued to bog down the offense.

However, we also got flashes of the 76ers at their best, and in those brief moments, they were a terrifying defensive amoeba capable of switching multiple positions, swarming opponents with length and trotting out a dynamic mix of athleticism, snappy hands and high basketball I.Q. There’s just too much talent for the Sixers to flame out in underwhelming fashion, and in a setting where offenses might be rusty, their defense and all-around talent could win out … so long as they prove they’re ready to rise to the level of their competition again.

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