NBA Tickets - The Contenders by Brent Warnken

As we're coming up on the All-Star Game, it appears to me that we've got four legitimate title contenders in the NBA. I'm not saying that these four teams are the only ones who can win it, but these are the four clubs that would not surprise me if they took home the title. (Note: All statistics are as of February 9th.)

Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers currently have the best record in the NBA at 41-9. The injury to Andrew Bynum will hurt them, but not as much as last season. This group is much more accustomed to playing together, which was exemplified by the Lakers' wins over the Celtics and Cavaliers (both on the road) in the week after Bynum's latest injury. Lamar Odom is the wild card for the Lakers going forward. Back in the starting lineup, Odom will make or break this team and their chances, as some nights he can dominate both scoring and crashing the boards. This team has everything it needs to win the title. Kobe Bryant is the alpha dog and the guy they look to in big moments, Pau Gasol and Odom provide inside scoring, Trevor Ariza is turning into a lock-down defender and Phil Jackson may be the best coach of all time.

Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James got the Cavs to the finals when this team was much worse, but now they play like championship contenders all the time. The addition of Mo Williams has been huge for the Cavs, especially LeBron. With another player that can create for himself and others on the team, LeBron has been able to relax a little more on the offensive end, scoring more easy buckets and focusing more on the defensive end where he's quickly becoming a premiere defender. LeBron has surpassed Kobe as the best player in the world in my eyes, and this could very well be both an MVP and championship season for King James.

San Antonio Spurs: You can't ever count this team out as long as they've got Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan. Manu Ginobili started the season injured and Tony Parker went down early, but Duncan and Pop kept things afloat and now the Spurs are all of a sudden 34-15. The Spurs might not play the flashy kind of ball that sells NBA tickets the way Mike D'Antoni's does, but they're the best example of team basketball in the league. They were last year's Celtics before the Celtics were. The x-factor for the team this season has been Roger Mason Jr., who looks to be assuming the Robert Horry clutch moment role for San Antonio. The Spurs have as good of a chance as anyone to win the championship this season.

Boston Celtics: The reigning champs definitely have a shot to repeat, but probably the least out of these four teams. They've looked old at times and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are not playing at the same level that they did last season. Rajon Rondo has stepped up his game, though, and Ray Allen is having a much underrated year this far. I'm not too confident that the Celts can beat LeBron and Co. four times in seven games, though, especially if four of those seven games are played in Cleveland. Still, you can't rule them out.

This article aboutNBA tickets was written by Brent Warnken in association with StubHub, a leader in the sports tickets, concert tickets, theatre tickets and special events tickets market.

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