Top Trios in the NBA

[MapleLeaf]

From ESPN.com

Seven games.

Seven victories in seven games entering the weekend, won by an average margin of 17 points, were all I needed to see from the Boston Celtics to know that we needn't hold off any longer.

You might not want to admit this, but you know you're already asking yourself: Do the Celts have the most fearsome threesome in the NBA? Now you can consult the official Stein List of Top Trios for answers, from No. 1 to No. 5 and with some honorable mentions below:

1. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili

To knock the Spurs' iconic core out of the top spot -- San Antonio's fundamentally sound pillar in the low post and its two creators/havoc-makers flanking him on the perimeter -- Boston will have to win it all in Year 1 of its renaissance.

But even then you couldn't really get away with bumping a threesome that has been crowned champions in three of the past five seasons. That's how special Duncan, Ginobili and Parker are together, with on-court styles that mesh so nicely and a chemistry that ranks as the envy of the league, extending to the point that the first two took significant discounts in their most recent contract negotiations to make it easier for Spurs management to keep the supporting cast around them stocked.

Where else on the NBA map does stuff like that happen?

2. Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion

It took a trio as historic as San Antonio's to prevent these three and their highly skilled supporting cast from breaking through last season. Maybe they don't quite have the Spurs' unity, with Stoudemire and Marion both known to crave more spotlight at times, but you can likewise ask yourself: Who does?

The Suns naturally prefer to focus on what they do have, starting with a selfless (and imperious) floor leader who everyone wants to play with. There might be skeptics around the league who question how good Stoudemire and Marion would be without Nash, as I was reminded Friday by one executive, but their respective athletic gifts help make Nash even more dangerous than he was in Dallas … and make Stoudemire and Marion two of the most unique creatures in the game.

Although there's a beneath-the-surface expectation that this season might be the last chance for this trio to win it all before the Suns pursue dramatic personnel changes, remembering how high they sit on this list always tends to give management pause.

3. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen

Go ahead. Tell me it's too early to have them up here. Tell me that it's a trio featuring three No. 2 options, none of them truly comfortable as the alpha dog. Tell me that it's not the ideal mix for an NBA threesome since there's no ball-handling guard here as you'd hope to put alongside the big man and the explosive wing man.

Say what you wish about the two megastars that have been imported to sandwich Pierce and everything they're allegedly missing as a triumvirate. I'm listening instead to the Western Conference executive who told me: "As a pure trio, who has three guys more talented?"

They've also joined forces in a conference for the taking, which (as I keep saying) should offset the limitations of their supporting cast. If I have a concern about the Celtics at this point, it's that they remind me a bit of last season's Mavericks, playing with an intensity -- most of it spilling from Garnett -- that will overwhelm teams in the regular season but prove hard to maintain through the playoffs. Even so, Boston's new trio has to be this high.

Yes, already.

4. Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry

The Mavs rank as the NBA's ultimate prove-it-to-me team after their collapse in the 2006 NBA Finals was followed by last season's ignominious first-round exit. I freely admit, furthermore, that I was one of the loudest advocates out there for a bigger offseason shakeup to cleanse the locker room of past demons.

For the purposes of this discussion, however, I don't see how you can exclude Dallas' core trio. Especially when Howard has so noticeably improved his shooting and ballhandling and with Terry flourishing in his new sixth-man role, which frees him up to do what he does best -- fire away -- as opposed to worrying about everyone else first.

Nowitzki still suffers from the fact that, outside of reserve guard J.J. Barea and veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, he's the best passer on the team … and can't exactly pass it to himself to create shot opportunities. But Nowitzki remains an absolute matchup nightmare for pretty much every team this side of Golden State. Add it all up and this is still an elite, dangerous triad.

5. Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby

These guys haven't achieved what the mainstays have in Detroit and Utah … or even what New Jersey and Washington have done in the playoffs by getting to Round 2. But the Nets' and Wizards' trios are beset with injuries and other issues these days, while the Pistons and Jazz would honestly fit better in a discussion of Best Foursomes.

Denver, meanwhile, shares much in common with Boston, given that this is the first full season together for these three and since it's a trio bubbling with talent. Anthony's game is starting to broaden and include more passing, Iverson remains a source of (welcome) offensive unpredictability and fierce competitiveness at 32 and Camby has quietly played 70 games twice in his past four seasons with the Nuggets and is the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

-Done by Mark Stein

 

[RipCity32]

Big 4 > Big 3's

 

[VC3]

Andris, POB, and Buike

naw...

Nash+STAT+Marion is beastly.

 

[Pierce]

Pierce Allen and KG are the best trio...what are they smoking......they all are averaging 20+ points...... and is undefeated....this guy knows nothin.

 

[Mexi]

Pierce Allen and KG are the best trio...what are they smoking......they all are averaging 20+ points...... and is undefeated....this guy knows nothin.

3 titles in 5 years > 8 games of Pierce/Allen/Garnett

sorry

 

[playmaker7]

Pierce Allen and KG are the best trio...what are they smoking......they all are averaging 20+ points...... and is undefeated....this guy knows nothin.

They are unproven and its only the beginning of the season. Til then, the best trio is no doubt Nash, Marion, Stoudemire.

 

[Pugz]

I'd go with Duncan, Manu, and Tony.

 

[playmaker7]

I'd go with Duncan, Manu, and Tony.

I refuse to acknowledge those cheaters.

 

[Mexi]

lmao PM7
they did not cheat

please tell me, how did they cheat?

 

[playmaker7]

lmao PM7
they did not cheat

please tell me, how did they cheat?

Well I didn't mean cheat, I meant cheap. They're dirty and I refuse to acknowledge them <_<

 

[MapleLeaf]

Like Bonds?

 

[playmaker7]

Like Bonds?

Yes like Bonds.

 

[Yankees2772]

How are they dirty? Because they play the best, purest, most fundamental basketball in the world?

 

[Pugz]

There good and...Well there great and thats all that matters.

But I think maybe if they were all on different tems they wouldn't have been so dominet BUT Duncan Manu and Tony are THE BEST TRIO.

 

[playmaker7]

How are they dirty? Because they play the best, purest, most fundamental basketball in the world?

Because they have dirty players who try to injure others, throw 2 time MVPs to the ground, get key players suspended, and Tony Parker is to ugly to be with Longoria <_<

 

[Mexi]

Because they have dirty players who try to injure others, throw 2 time MVPs to the ground, get key players suspended, and Tony Parker is to ugly to be with Longoria <_<

they got themselves suspended
what you want the NBA to bend the rules just so they wouldnt get suspended?

try to get the other teams best player hurt?
remember the whole Raja Bell/Kobe incident?

 

[playmaker7]

they got themselves suspended
what you want the NBA to bend the rules just so they wouldnt get suspended?

try to get the other teams best player hurt?
remember the whole Raja Bell/Kobe incident?

But they know that its an impulse. If someone threw your teammate down and you were on the bench would you just sit and watch? I mean, they weren't even near the incident.

And no one got hurt from that, but Bruce Bowen has been doing cheap crap his whole career says numerous NBA players.

 

[Whisper]

What's the difference from how the Spurs play now? And how they used to play the game back in the day? Screw these no touch scrappy rules the league has today. The Spurs just keepin it old school B)

 

[DJT]

But they know that its an impulse. If someone threw your teammate down and you were on the bench would you just sit and watch? I mean, they weren't even near the incident.

And no one got hurt from that, but Bruce Bowen has been doing cheap crap his whole career says numerous NBA players.

I'm still mad they didn't suspend any spurs cause you know damn right that someone from San Antonio came off the bench when a couple players got into a little scuffle.

 

[Sabbath]

Because they have dirty players who try to injure others, throw 2 time MVPs to the ground, get key players suspended, and Tony Parker is to ugly to be with Longoria <_<

Please.... they play tough basketball and wanted to get into the Phoenix Suns head, and it did. It was a brilliant strategy and by no means is considered" cheating." Besides, the Spurs aren't half as bad as the Detroit Pistons.