The Eastern Conference playoffs race is heating up with only a few games remaining.
With less than 10 days left in the NBA regular season, the playoff picture is becoming more clear every day. While the Atlanta Hawks have already clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers are fighting for the No. 8 seed.
Unlike the NCAA Tournament, the NBA plays a series of seven games in each round. Because the NBA is set up like this, the better team usually wins and moves on to the next round, so there is less of a chance for an upset
It’s no secret that the Eastern Conference is not as competitive as the Western Conference. In fact, the race for the Eastern Conference championship is really only between four, maybe five, teams. If the season were to end today, the Atlanta Hawks would be the No. 1 seed in the East, followed, in order, by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors.
Technically, any of these teams could be upset in the first round. But in reality we will probably be seeing these four teams advance to the second round. This is where it gets interesting. In the second round, the No. 3 seeded Bulls would meet the No. 2 seeded Cavs and the Hawks would meet the No. 4 seeded Raptors, unless John Wall and his No. 5 seeded Washington Wizards can pull off the upset in the first round.
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With 59 wins, so far, this has been the Hawks best season in franchise history. The top-seeded Hawks are led by 3-point ace Kyle Korver and power forward Paul Millsap — who leads the team in points per game. The Hawks also have weapons in Jeff Teague and Al Horford. Horford is currently shooting at 53 percent.
While Atlanta has been the team to beat in the East all year, you can never truly count out LeBron James in the postseason. But this team is more than just LeBron. With new additions like Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mosgov, the Cavaliers and LeBron are ready to chase what would be the first championship in Cleveland history. With Kyrie Irving at his side, LeBron and his new team are ready to win it all.
Meanwhile, the Bulls star, Derrick Rose, came back Wednesday night from his latest knee injury to play against the Orlando Magic. Depending on how Rose plays for the rest of the season, the Bulls could possibly make a run and beat the Cavaliers in the second round. While this may seem outlandish to some, it cannot be denied that this Chicago team has skill. Led by All-Stars: Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah, the Bulls have just as much of a chance to represent the East as the Hawks or the Cavs.
Lastly, we have the Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards. This first-round matchup has potential to be close where all of the other matchups will likely be very one-sided. Led by Wall and Bradley Beal, the Wizards have a chance to surprise everybody and make it to the second round of the playoffs for the second-straight year. But this Toronto team will not be easy to beat, led by DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors are still fighting to take the third seed from Butler and the Bulls.
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