Cleveland Cavaliers 50 27 Boston Celtics 50 27 Toronto Raptors 47 31 Washington Wizards 47 31 Milwaukee Bucks 40 38 Atlanta Hawks 39 38 Chicago Bulls 38 40 Indiana Pacers 38 40 Miami Heat 37 40 Is this the most fun, surprising and competitive the East has been in years? I think it has and for the first time in years I feel like it's not just one team who's clearly the best and we could have some great series. In years past, even with the 60 win Hawks and Raptors, Heat, Wizards being good, the play-offs never lived up and you kind of knew they would fade and Lebron's Cavs / Heat would go to the Finals. This year I feel the Celtics, Cavaliers and even the Wizards could really make for some great competition for that finals spot. Raptors I have little faith in due to history and Lowry. Bucks could surprise some people. The bottom is still a bit weak and even though the West elite is still much stronger, the East is kind of gaining ground. Just look at the standings, West 7 vs. 6 East teams over .500, in both conferences a battle for the 8th seed at 38/37-40. Also how funny is it with the 1-2, 3-4, 7-8 seed tied record wise and only 1 off for having all tied, even the 9th as a 3-way tie. I really hope at least the Celtics & Wizards can live up to their record.
It's going to be interesting to see how the Celtics add to their current roster with all those picks moving forward.
Someone is getting REALLY EXCITED about a whole lot of nothing. Life is still very much "meh" out there in the east and post play is still very much dead. NEXT.
how many times have we heard the east is "starting to gain ground on the west". No, it's still the same story. East is still incredibly top heavy. West still have much better overall teams
"Competitive" and "good" aren't the same thing. College basketball is competitive. But they ain't good compared to the NBA teams. The East may be competitive. But only Cleveland has any shot at hanging with the big boys in the West.
Boston just wasted Horford's career. Ainge is extremely sneaky and he knows he's not going to compete for a championship. He's just going with the facade that he's trying to win a championship when in fact he's waiting on the Nets picks to eventuate and then build a young core from there and compete for a championship then. He knows a Isaiah Thomas-led team won't translate into titles and so he's just toying with his players and his fans on some kind of gimmicky team. Watch him gut the Celtics team of core veterans once the Nets picks are realised. Isaiah Thomas is simply a placeholder.
Boston and Toronto both lack winning playoffs experience to hang with Cleveland over a 7-game series. Then the quality drops from a cliff in the East. Nobody has a chance.
