Few would be surprised if the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, for old time's sake.
Fewer still would so much as bat an eyelash if LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh brought another title to the Miami Heat in the second year of Pat Riley's superstar experiment.
After all, the NBA playoffs, while exciting in their own right, are easily the most predictable of any in North American professional sports. Underdogs and young teams tend to wait their turn until All-Star squads and clubs with championship pedigrees are done feasting out of the Larry O'Brien Trophy trough.
The NBAâ€"where "get in line!" happens.
The time has come, though, for these three teams to take the next step up, from merely qualifying for the playoffs to winning series and contending for the crown.
Which young team will make the biggest leap this postseason?
Which young team will make the biggest leap this postseason?
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Pacers
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Thunder
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Grizzlies
Indiana Pacers
Larry Bird has done a masterful job of building the Pacers into Eastern Conference contenders, piece by carefully placed piece.
Indiana sports three former All-Stars (Danny Granger, David West and Roy Hibbert), a hyper-athletic wing (Paul George) and a pair of steady hands at the point (Darren Collison and George Hill), along with energy (Tyler Hansbrough) and scoring (Leandro Barbosa) off the bench.
What Indiana lacks in a go-to scorer they make for in depth and a defensive, team-oriented philosophy under head coach Frank Vogel.
The Pacers gave the Chicago Bulls a run for their money in the first round last year and should have little trouble scooting past the Dwight Howard-less Orlando Magic this time around.
Ousting the Heat in the second round will be no easy task, though the Pacers proved this season they can hang with Miami, beating the presumptive champs once and taking them to overtime on another occasion.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Okay, so maybe it's not entirely fair to put the Thunder in this group, considering they came into the season as the pick to win the West and challenge the Heat for the NBA title.
Still, the fact remains that OKC still has yet to truly prove itself under pressure.
The Thunder fell well short against the red-hot Dallas Mavericks last year and were largely outplayed by the Memphis Grizzlies (more on them later) in the Western Conference semifinals.
Oklahoma City might just see the Mavs in the first round and could face off with the Grizz in the Conference Finals, assuming they exact revenge on the Los Angeles Lakers, for Metta World Peace's elbow to James Harden's head, in the second round.
The Thunder will need a healthy Harden to share the scoring load with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and for Serge Ibaka to play his way through a late-season hip injury.
But if the Thunder show greater poise under pressure this year than they did last spring, they should be well on their way to representing the West in the NBA Finals.
Memphis Grizzlies
That's if the Grizz don't garner that honor first.
Memphis has been everyone's "sleeper" to come out of the West ever since it pushed OKC to the brink in 2011.
Then again, the Grizzlies have done little since then to suggest that they don't deserve that distinction. Their starting lineup features an All-Star center (Marc Gasol), an All-NBA defender (Tony Allen), a high-volume scorer (Rudy Gay), a steady point guard (Mike Conley Jr.) and a productive power forward (Marreese Speights).
Notice that Zach Randolphâ€"Memphis' best player from last year's playoff runâ€"wasn't even mentioned because he's coming off the bench now.
Alongside O.J. Mayo and Gilbert Arenas.
Like the Pacers, the Grizz lack a superstar to turn to in the clutch, but have more than enough talent across the board to stifle the Clippers and Spurs in the first two rounds before facing off with either the Thunder or the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
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