Top ten NBA teams of the decade

Okay, okay. I get it. The Rockets can’t get over the hump, James Harden’s playoff struggles, blah blah blah. Yes, we know. But the Rockets were the only team in the West that could even challenge the Kevin Durant-era Warriors. No, they never won, but neither did anyone else when they were fully healthy. They had an MVP, won 65 games and pushed the best roster ever to seven games. No one else can say that.

This team was by far the best in the league that season. Their 9.1 net rating was tops in the league, they had four future Hall of Famers and a bunch of scrappy role players that moved the ball and defended at a top notch level. This is the team that shaped Kawhi Leonard into the player he is now. Speaking of which…

I’m totally afraid that I’m underrating this Miami Heat team. Though they weren’t at the peak of their powers just yet, they were still spectacular in a lockout shortened season where they won 46 of 66 games. Their season culminated in a dominant 4-1 Finals win over a Thunder team that they’d never see in the postseason again.

This team could’ve very easily been closer to the top. They won a league record 73 games, had the longest winning streak to start a season ever (24), and had a UNANIMOUS MVP on their team. Yet, they also could’ve missed it completely after blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. They were the NBA’s biggest success and failure of the decade, all at once.

These Raptors reaped the benefits from those 2014 Spurs. They essentially took Leonard on loan and rode him all the way to a title. They’re are the only team to win a playoff series against the Durant-led Warriors — even if they weren’t healthy. That’s a big achievement in itself.

You can say what you want about this Warriors team — sure, they beat an injured Cavaliers team and they had a bit of luck on their way to a title. Most champions do. The bottom line is they won 67 games with a league MVP in Stephen Curry and a spectacular defense. They were incredible.

It’s hard to go back-to-back in this era of NBA basketball where stars are bouncing all over the place and the balance of the league is forever shifting. These Warriors were able to do it behind the brilliance of Curry and Durant once again — even with seeds of discord being sewn in the team.

This team is so hard to rank. They were a soap opera. These Cavaliers fired a coach with a 30-11 record midseason, subtweeted each other, and still felt failure of the Finals loss from the season before. But they made up for it with the most epic comeback in league history. You know — 3-1 deficit, unanimous MVP and all that good stuff.

This team’s 27 game winning streak on their way to 66 wins on the season is the second longest streak in NBA history. Only the 1971-72 Lakers’ 33-game streak is longer. They had LeBron James at the peak of his powers — that alone makes them one of the best teams in league history.

This is quite simply the greatest collection of basketball talent we’ve ever seen – outside of an All-Star team – headed by Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant at their best. They rode that to a 67-win season and a 16-1 record in the playoffs, matching the unstoppable 2001 Lakers’ playoff run.