"There's Three Teams That Can Win The Championship": Colin Cowherd Names His NBA Title Contenders

The term “title contender” is thrown around a lot, and as the postseason progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that only a precious few teams live up to that hype.

Veteran analyst Colin Cowherd is whittling down his list even before the playoffs begin. After watching a certain matchup go down on Wednesday, the Fox Sports 1 personality is certain that he has seen two bona fide championship picks.

“The Celtics met OKC last night…It felt like you were watching a potential NBA championship,” Cowherd said on “The Herd” Thursday morning. “Let’s be totally honest. There’s teams that can win the championship. The Celtics and the OKC Thunder, you watched two of them last night. The other [one] is the Spurs.”

Cowherd then explained his criteria for genuine title contention by running through a list of teams that, in his view, are not in the running this season.

“The Lakers don’t have the athletes or the defense. The Pistons don’t have the offense. Denver, on most nights, way too Jokic-reliant. Houston doesn’t have a true point guard. Forget about that, they’re struggling.”

Cowherd did indicate that there’s a dark horse in this title picture. “The Knicks are interesting, but they’re not as good as Boston. Brunson and KAT, their two best players, they’re major defensive liabilities. You can hunt both in big playoff games,” he said.

As far as the numbers are concerned, Cowherd is onto something here. The Thunder, the Celtics, and the Spurs are all top-10 teams in terms of both offensive rating and defensive rating. Interestingly, the Knicks have a better offensive rating than the Thunder, which does suggest that they have enough firepower to hang with the very best.

Is it possible that any other team could emerge on the grand stage of the NBA Finals? Among the “non-contenders” named by Cowherd, the Pistons and the Nuggets can still make a compelling case, especially if Cade Cunningham comes back for the playoffs and the Nuggets unlock the peak versions of Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.

It’s safe to say, then, that this postseason is shaping up to be a thrilling affair, one with a grand finale that remains highly unpredictable at this point.