The Warriors and Cavaliers are more vulnerable than ever

What seemed six months ago to be a foregone conclusion is now up in the air.

Thanks to Stephen Curry's ankle and LeBron James' lacklustre teammates, Golden State and Cleveland are no longer mortal locks to meet in the Finals.

For a change, the NBA post-season is wide open.

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The Warriors limp into the first round without their two-time MVP point guard and having lost 10 of their last 17, including a 40-point drubbing by the Utah Jazz in their regular-season finale.

The Cavaliers have been trending more upward than the Warriors, but will enter the post-season as the East's fourth seed amidst various injury questions themselves, and as of the trade deadline, a new supporting cast for James.

Still, each juggernaut remains the favourite to come out of their conference. Bodog lists the Warriors at 10-11 to win the West, just ahead of the Houston Rockets at 11-10.

The Cavaliers are 5-4 odds to win the East, ahead of the Toronto Raptors (8-5) and Philadelphia 76ers (5-1).

Rockets set to launch

Houston went all-in over the summer to try dethroning the Warriors. Their biggest addition was "Point God" Chris Paul, who paired with all-star James Harden to form the best backcourt in the league — except for, arguably, the Warriors' duo of Curry and Klay Thompson.

With four all-stars, defeating Golden State still seemed an impenetrable task, but the Rockets at least gave themselves a chance in case injury struck the Warriors.

And then, multiple injuries struck the Warriors. Each of their four all-stars missed at least nine games, and Curry sat 31 with various leg ailments.

And then, the Rockets emerged. Not only did they assert themselves as threats in case of injury, but they became dominant and won 65 games for the NBA's best record.

Harden, after finishing second in MVP voting twice, should win the award this season — and deservedly so. The Beard led the league in points per game as the only player to eclipse 30. His 8.8 assists per game were good enough for third, behind James and reigning MVP Russell Westbrook.

Meanwhile, Paul proved his regular-season prowess in averaging 18.6 points and nearly eight assists despite sharing ball-handling duties with Harden. He'll look to reach the conference finals for the first time.

The Rockets lost only four games all season when both guards played.

Can the Warriors flip the switch?

So why are the Warriors still the title favourites?

The conventional thinking is Golden State will "flip the switch" once the playoffs begin. After three consecutive trips to the Finals, they're tired and on cruise control for what they perceive as a meaningless regular season.

Even without Curry, they should handle a depleted Spurs team in the first round. They'll then have the band back together for a Round 2 matchup with Portland or New Orleans, before a likely conference finals battle with Houston.

In one month's time, when that series kicks off, the Warriors machine should be humming along.

But how soon everyone forgets: just two years ago, the 73-win Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals to the Cavaliers. Among the many reasons for that collapse was Curry's nagging knee injury.

One of the most indelible images from that series was Cleveland's Kyrie Irving nailing a three-pointer over Curry in the dying minutes of Game 7. In 2018, Irving is a Celtic and James has one less all-star by his side.

In a twist of fate, Irving will miss the entire post-season after complications with a knee injury suffered during the 2015 Finals with the Cavs. His Celtics likely won't be contenders without him.

Sixers rising

That leaves two East teams with better regular-season records than Cleveland: Philadelphia and Toronto.

The 76ers ended their season on a 16-game winning streak. One of those wins came against the Cavs, in which the young Sixers sped out to a 30-point lead at home before hanging on for a two-point victory.

That game exemplifies what could go wrong for Philadelphia in the playoffs. Led by rookie Ben Simmons and second-year player Joel Embiid, the 76ers boast little playoff experience. Simmons' limited shooting range could be exacerbated in the playoffs when defences choose to play off of him.

Still, the hottest team in the league won't have to play Cleveland until the conference final. The path is there, and they've already proven they can hang with the Cavs.

Raptors ready for revenge

Unlike Toronto.

The Raptors have lost eight of 10 playoff games in the past two years to Cleveland, including a second-round sweep last season. They will again match up in the second round this year if both advance.

Since the Cavaliers overhauled their roster at the trade deadline, they've played the Raptors twice and blown them out both times.

Meanwhile, Raptors stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are among the worst volume shooters in NBA playoffs history. There have been 251 players who have taken at least 10 shots per game in at least 40 playoff games. Of those, DeRozan ranks 215th in field goal percentage (40.3 per cent), and Lowry 225th (39.4 per cent).

If this year is truly different for Toronto, they'll need to prove it against the Cavaliers. DeRozan and Lowry will need to make some shots to have a shot.

But, for the first time since 2015, teams other than the Cavaliers and Warriors could legitimately reach the Finals.

The Rockets, 76ers and Raptors may be underdogs, but they're not crazy bets.