5 team matchups fans want to see in the 2022 NBA Playoffs

#3 LA Lakers vs Golden State Warriors

LeBron James (#23) of the LA Lakers scores the game-winning three-point basket against Stephen Curry (#30) of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Play-In tournament.

Watching LeBron James and Stephen Curry battle it out in the NBA Playoffs? Yes, please. LeBron James met the Golden State Warriors in four consecutive NBA Finals when he was in the Eastern Conference. But since his move to the LA Lakers, there has been no postseason meeting between James and Stephen Curry.

Last season, the Play-In tournament gave us a chance to see the LA Lakers and the Golden State Warriors face off in a game that had NBA Playoff intensity, even if theoretically it wasn't a postseason clash.

For the upcoming NBA campaign, both the LA Lakers and the Golden State Warriors should be better than they were in the previous season. The LA Lakers had a strong offseason, adding Russell Westbrook to the mix and lots of veterans and shooters to revamp their roster.

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors should have Klay Thompson back at some point in the regular season, and the trio of Stephen Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green has proven to be NBA championship material.

A meeting between both squads at full strength in the NBA Playoffs would be amazing, with James and Curry meeting yet again in a tense postseason battle.

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#2 Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks

Kevin Durant (left) and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks gave us a seven-game series for the ages in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Eventually, Milwaukee took advantage of Brooklyn's injury woes to win the series en route to the NBA championship.

While James Harden missed the first four games of the series and Kyrie Irving got injured in Game 4, the Brooklyn Nets enjoyed having two superstars on the court in every game of the series.

Still, the Bucks managed to defeat the Nets and overcome amazing performances from Kevin Durant. Game 7 was a thrilling one, with Durant sending the game to overtime with a shot that looked like the game-winning three-pointer. Eventually, the Bucks won the game with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton delivering clutch shots and Brook Lopez showing clutch defense in OT too.

The series was stunning, and it would definitely be fun to watch something similar this season. If the Nets face off against the Bucks at full strength, they will be favored, but the confident reigning champions will definitely have a shot at beating the super team.

Both squads will meet on Opening Night in Milwaukee, and it could be an early preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.

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#1 LA Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets

Kevin Durant (#7) James Harden (#13) and Kyrie Irving (#11) of the Brooklyn Nets.

The LA Lakers against the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA Finals seems like a matchup that most want to see, given the group of superstars both teams have on their rosters. Not only are both teams stacked with talent, the storylines between some of the players on the LA Lakers and Brooklyn Nets is also interesting.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have not faced each other in the NBA Playoffs since KD left Westbrook and the OKC Thunder in 2016. Meanwhile, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving won a championship together for the Cleveland Cavaliers. But reports suggest their relationship did not end well and that Irving effectively wanted to play without James elsewhere.

Moreover, James Harden and Russell Westbrook played together early in their careers at Oklahoma City and later played for the Houston Rockets in the 2019-20 NBA season.

There were reports of a strained relationship between Westbrook and 'The Beard' in Houston, and they split after only a year and many rumors.

If the LA Lakers and Brooklyn Nets meet in the 2022 NBA Finals, it will obviously be one of the most watched deciding series in recent NBA history. A long year is still ahead of us, and odds do not always decide the fate of an NBA season. However, a Lakers-Nets fight for the Larry O'Brien trophy could be unbelievable in June 2022.

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