One fatal flaw for each NBA playoff contender

Fatal Flaw: lack of playoff experience

The Bucks have been the best team in the NBA this season, and it hasn't been particularly close either. So why aren't they considered the favorites to win the title? For one, the Warriors exist (duh). For two, their superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has yet to win a playoff series. In fact, most of the Bucks' top contributors are novices when it comes to making deep playoff runs. It's easy for Milwaukee to mow down teams in the regular season when no one has time to scout and develop a game plan to slow down the league's most unstoppable force. But what about when Brad Stevens has a week to prepare for the Bucks' spread-out offense? What about when the opponent decides to pick-and-roll Brook Lopez to death on every play? What about when the other team leaves Tony Snell and Pat Connaughton open for three-pointers in the fourth quarter? Will the young Bucks answer the bell, or will their collective inexperience get the best of them?

Fatal Flaw: Kawhi-related chemistry

As their 46-19 record suggests, the Raptors are a team with few flaws. In fact, Toronto is probably the safest bet to make the Finals out of the East — they're more experienced and less reliant upon one player than the Bucks, and they're more consistent and deeper than the 76ers and Celtics. However, as Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer lays out , the Raptors haven't really figured out how to integrate Kawhi Leonard into their offense despite him averaging career bests in points (27.0) and rebounds (7.4) per game. Right now, Leonard touches the ball less often than every other player averaging over 20 points per game except for Klay Thompson (who frequently attempts more shots than dribbles in games). Toronto will need to run more of its offense through Leonard in the latter rounds of the playoffs, and he will need to up his playmaking (only 3.3. assists per game) for the team to make a deep run this spring.

Fatal Flaw: Are we really going to do this? 

When focused, this team is flawless. The Warriors were damn near flawless before they signed Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016. They were flawless before they signed DeMarcus Cousins. If this team has a "flaw" (and that's really stretching the definition of the word), it would be complacency. The Warriors are so much better than every other team that they seem to relish in the challenge of coming back from deficits that would be insurmountable for other teams. Hell, they even did it last year in back-to-back win-or-go-home Western Conference Finals games. Unless Steph Curry or Kevin Durant gets injured or the team has a complete chemistry meltdown at the most inopportune time, we might as well hand the Dubs the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the fourth time in five years. 

Fatal Flaw: lack of playoff experience

Much like Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are among the best in the league but aren't incredibly experienced when it comes to playoff basketball. Outside of Paul Millsap and Isaiah Thomas, none of their rotation players has played major minutes in the playoffs. Another potential issue for Denver could be that it has too many rotation-level players. The playoffs are a time when teams must shrink their rotations and maximize their best players' minutes. Who loses minutes? Does it impact those players' performances when they're needed in certain situations? Relying on inexperienced players to perform in spot duty after playing consistent minutes all season is dicey, especially on the road in the playoffs. 

Fatal Flaw: no superstar

The Pacers had quietly built a dark horse contender before their star, Victor Oladipo, went down with a gruesome knee injury a little over a month ago. Instead of falling apart like most expected them to, they have stayed afloat near the top of the Eastern Conference — an impressive feat and sign of a great head coach and organization. With their stellar defense (second-best defensive rating), the Pacers will be able to hang with any team in the playoffs, but they'll be missing Oladipo as their go-to guy who could always get them a bucket down the stretch of tight games. Sure guys like Wes Matthews and Tyreke Evans might carry them to a couple of fourth-quarter wins in the playoffs, yet there's virtually no chance this team makes it out of the second round. It's a damn shame, but that's the way sports work sometimes. 

Fatal Flaw: pecking order and Celtic kryptonite 

The Sixers added not one but two All-Star-caliber players to their roster (both in contract years) during the season. Thus, the integration of Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, especially when it comes to who gets the ball down the stretch (remember they have JJ Redick too) is always going to be a concern for Philly. Joel Embiid should be the first option, but it's difficult for big men to be go-to guys late in games because someone has to pass them the ball. Butler has the clutch chops, but Harris or Redick might have a more favorable matchup. 

The Sixers' other flaw is that they can't seem to beat the Boston Celtics. After getting crushed 4-1 in the second round last season, Philly has lost all three games against Boston this season. The Sixers better try like crazy to get ahead of Indiana for that three-spot because they do not want to face the Celtics in the first round.

Fatal Flaw: They aren't as good on defense as they were last year

The Rockets may have missed their best chance to topple the Warriors last spring when they had the wing defenders to match up with Kevin Durant. Last year's squad had the sixth-best defensive rating in the league. This year's team has the fifth-worst defensive rating. At the same time, while they're not as balanced as last year's team, James Harden has taken his game to a new level offensively, so the Rockets will always have the potential to catch fire and outgun even the Warriors on certain nights. Can they do that four times out of seven games though? They'll need Chris Paul to keep playing the way he's been playing since the All-Star break to have a chance.

Fatal Flaw: poor three-point shooting

The Thunder are going to be a problem for any team because of their overwhelming athleticism and talent. OKC's top six players are all physical specimens who are built for intense playoff games. Their 21st-ranked three-point shooting, however, probably won't fare well during the postseason. Ironically, this flaw could probably be cured if Russell Westbrook just stopped shooting three-pointers altogether. Seriously, the dude is shooting 27 percent from deep while attempting more than five per game. This isn't to demean Westbrook, as he is having an outstanding season by all other accounts, but some better decision making on his part during the playoffs will be paramount to OKC's success. 

Fatal Flaw: Who is going to cover Kevin Durant? James Harden? Paul George?

It's been the same issue for the Blazers the past handful of playoffs: They don't have good wing players. They have two excellent guards in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. They even have a good big man in Jusuf Nurkic. Sadly, they don't have any upper-echelon three-and-D wings. Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless can play some defense, but they can't be relied upon to hit big threes in playoff games. Evan Turner is basically a point guard who can't shoot. Jake Layman has only recently started getting minutes. And Rodney Hood showed everyone his true colors in last year's playoffs. The Blazers are, therefore, a second-round team at best this spring.

Fatal Flaw: chemistry

What on earth is going on in Boston? The Celtics seemed to be on the verge of a complete meltdown last week and then went into Golden State and absolutely annihilated the title favorites this week. Half a year ago, Kyrie Irving was telling Celtics' season ticket holders that he'd re-sign if they'll have him back. Today, with his moody, bizarre leadership rants, those season ticket holders are ready to drive him to the airport the minute the season ends. Half a year ago, people thought Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward would form the best wing trio in the NBA. Today, Tatum and Brown have taken steps backward after last spring, and describing Hayward as a shell of himself is disrespectful toward crustaceans everywhere. No one on the team seems to be enjoying himself, and there's a serious chance that they go down in the first round this spring. At the same time, when they play to their potential, they can beat anybody in the league. How this will play out is anyone's guess.

Fatal Flaw: no secondary scorer

The Jazz are comparable to the Pacers in that they have a stellar defense (third-best rating in the NBA) and a fairly pedestrian offense (18th) that relies a little too much on one go-to guy down the stretch of games (Donovan Mitchell). Don't get me wrong: The Jazz are hot right now (as is their second-half custom) and trending in the right direction heading toward the playoffs. At the same time, Portland, Houston or OKC will almost certainly be Utah's first-round opponent, and thus, the Jazz are going to have to either play unbelievable defense or score the ball better than they have all season to have a shot in a series against any of those teams — especially the Rockets or Thunder. It's a shame Utah wasn't able to swing the Mike Conley for Ricky Rubio (plus other stuff) deal because Conley would have provided enough secondary scoring pop to make the offense dangerous at times in the playoffs. Expect the Jazz to give their first-round opponent all it can handle, but unless they draw the Blazers, don't expect them to advance to the second round this year.

Fatal Flaw: overreliance on their bench

Can you name the Clippers' two best players? Lou Williams has to be one of the two as he's averaging 20 points per game as the team's closer. The other is a toss-up between Montrezl Harrell and Danilo Gallinari. Two of their three best players come off the bench. In fact, if you go down their roster, you'll find that it is somewhat inverted with a below-average starting five and arguably the best bench in the league. It's actually a pretty savvy allocation of minutes by coach Doc Rivers because it throws off the opponents' rotations and game plans. But will it work in the playoffs when the Clippers' opponents shorten their rotations and play their best players more minutes? It'll be more difficult for Williams, Harrell and guys like Garrett Temple and JaMychal Green to dominate the opposition. The Clippers are a great regular-season story, but they'll likely get throttled by the Warriors or Nuggets in the first round.

Fatal Flaw: lack of a high-end point guard

As you have no doubt read or heard this season, the Spurs are the one team in the NBA that refuses to embrace the three-pointer. They rank dead last in three-point attempts despite being the best three-point shooting team percentage wise. While that is clearly a problem, it hasn't had the adverse impact you would think it should have on their offense — they're still the seventh-highest rated offense in the league. No, their biggest problem is the point guard position. Consider the point guards they could face in the first round: Steph Curry, Jamal Murray, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul/James Harden. If Dejounte Murray hadn't torn his ACL before the season, they'd have a fighting chance at slowing those guys down, but without him they're going to get torched in the first round of the playoffs.

Fatal Flaw: lack of shooting and depth

As winners of 11 of their past 14 games, Detroit is one of the hottest teams in the NBA and has vaulted up to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. With Blake Griffin playing arguably the best basketball of his career and Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard all playing at a relatively high level, the Pistons should be able to hang with a team like the Pacers or Celtics in the first round. Unfortunately, the team's poor shooting (it ranks 29th in field-goal percentage and 24th in both three-point and free-throw percentage) and lack of depth will ultimately be its undoing. I mean, Bruce Brown, Ish Smith, Thon Maker, Langston Galloway and even freaking Zaza Pachulia are playing major minutes for Detroit these days. 

Fatal Flaw: lack of frontcourt scoring and top-end talent

Much like the Kings, the Nets are one of the more enjoyable young teams to watch in the NBA. They play their butts off on both ends of the court. They have developed D'Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert into excellent backcourt players. They have three-and-D wings and a young center in Jarrett Allen who looks to be the next DeAndre Jordan. The only thing keeping them from contending in the Eastern Conference is a superstar wing — maybe they'll land one this summer. 

The fatal flaw for this season is their overreliance on the jump shooting of the aforementioned trio of guards and Joe Harris. When it gets late in playoff games, you sometimes need a front-court player who can get you some easy baskets in the post. It doesn't have to necessarily be a traditional post player either; it's just a player who will score or get to the line every time he touches the ball if he isn't double-teamed. Allen is many things, but he isn't that. 

Fatal Flaw: lack of experience

This season's League Pass darlings should be one of the best teams in the NBA in the next three to five seasons. The Kings have an abundance of young talent — De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Marvin Bagley and Harry Giles — who all fit the fast-pace, high-scoring direction the NBA is trending toward. Their fatal flaw that will likely keep them from making the playoffs this season, however, is their lack of experience. Right now, Harrison Barnes is the only major rotation player with any relevant playoff experience. This likely explains why the Kings can push teams like the Warriors to the brink every time they match up but always seem to squander late leads and lose tight games. (They've lost four games to Golden State by a combined total of 12 points this season!)

Fatal Flaw: no superstar

Even with Dwyane Wade playing as well as he has in years and Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow making mini-leaps as players this season, the Heat are in dire need of some star talent, especially on offense. While they're feisty on defense (eighth-best rating in the NBA), they're bad on offense (23rd). Some of their offensive offense can be attributed to Goran Dragic missing most of the season, but that doesn't make up for the fact that their only above-average offensive player for his position is Richardson. Even if Wade and Co. get the eight seed, they'll get slaughtered by a hungry Milwaukee team that could probably beat Miami without Giannis Antetokounmpo. We need more out of you, Pat Riley!

Fatal Flaw: defense, lack of chemistry and lack of three-point shooting

The Lakers probably don't even belong on this list as their playoff probability predictor on Basketball-Reference is currently at a pathetic 0.1 percent. Yet, out of respect for LeBron James we're going to entertain the possibility of him going on a tear and dragging this poorly constructed roster to the playoffs. The Lakers have a TON of fatal flaws: They stink on defense, they have bad chemistry from the failed Anthony Davis trade, they have no one who can spread the court and they don't seem to care enough about the little things (like free-throw shooting!) to contend for the playoffs. Combine all of those flaws with LeBron not playing at the apex level we've grown accustomed to seeing from him, and you have a debacle of a first season in L.A. for the King.

Fatal Flaw: guard play

For a moment before the All-Star break, it looked as though the Magic might eke into the playoffs, as they had won seven of eight games. They've come back down to earth a bit after the break and currently sit at ninth place in the East but only a game back from the eight seed. Orlando's fatal flaw, as it has been the past two seasons, is its guard play. The Magic don't even have a player averaging five assists per game for goodness sake! (This is after their top assist man at the end of last season averaged 3.9 assists per game!) Sure, Nikola Vucevic can do some creating with the ball in his hands, but how can an organization with young wings and big men allow itself to go multiple seasons without a legitimate point guard? It's the most oversaturated position in the league!

Fatal Flaw: Who is their second-best player?

Charlotte wins the award for having, by far, the largest gap between its best player and its second-best player. It's Kemba Walker, and the next best player is...Jeremy Lamb? Cody Zeller's hairline? Man, that's bleak. As fantastic as Kemba is, there's no way he can single-handedly take a team past the first round of the playoffs when his next-best teammates are a slightly above-average shooting guard and a big man who's best skill is his ability to set good screens. Maybe the Hornets sneak into the playoffs (they probably should try to go the other direction and increase their lottery odds instead), but it'll be a quick four-game sweep if they do.