The East is in the House 08'

As of 12/24/08 the Boston Celtics were riding higher than any other team and Santa Claus as they held a 19 game consecutive win streak. Christmas day arrives and Kobe Bryant's Lakers put a prompt end to that with a 9 point victory in Los Angeles. That loss may have been acceptable and expected by many, but then the Celtics lost 2 straight after Friday night's loss to a hungry Golden State Warriors squad.

So from a 19 game win streak to their first 2 game losing streak all season? It's indeed a curious case like Benjamin Button, but quite possibly the 2nd game came as a result of the first loss. Possibly the "oomph" was taken out from under them. The team was suddenly beatable and all other NBA teams took notice that it was possible to defeat the Celtics. After all the Pacers were one of the teams to do it, a team not many expect to be much of a challenger in the Eastern Conference. Stephen Jackson came up big for his Golden State Warriors to help bury the Celtics, possibly sensing a wounded squad after the Lakers loss. The Celtics are still the best there is in the league, but definitely have showed they are far from those 72-10 invinci-Bulls of yesteryear.

While the Celtics managed to gain a win on Sunday night, two other teams in the East are red hot right now. The Magic have won 7 straight games thanks to the inside-outside attack of Dwight Howard & Rashard Lewis. Add in sharpshooter Hedo Turkoglu and floor leader Jameer Nelson and this squad is one of the top 4 record-wise in the league, defeating the likes of New Orleans. The Cavs are on a 6 game win streak, behind the always-inspired King James & company.

Eastern Conference Top 8 (with Games Back):

1. * Boston --
2. * Cleveland 1.0
3. * Orlando 3.0
4. Atlanta 7.5
5. Detroit 9.0
6. Miami 10.5
7. New Jersey 12.0
8. Milwaukee 13.5

* Leads division

That said the Celtics (28-4), Cavs (26-4) and Magic (24-6) would be in the Top 4 in the West right now in terms of records along with the Lakers. Two other teams, the Pistons and Hawks look to be dangerous competitors come playoff time. It's great to see what looks like some sort of a power-shift to the East side after so many years of razzing that "the West is best". Then again the Celtics & Magic both sport former West coast stars in Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen & Kevin Garnett...

Celtics Defeat Pistons for 1st Road Win

Just a few days ago the Boston Celtics had the unfortunate distinction of losing their 1st home game of the post-season. Things were tied at 1-1 as the series shifted back to Detroit. Tonight with an impressive performance in Detroit, they picked up their first road win of 7 tries, which many might have called a "much needed win".

Despite what seemed like an energetic pre-game intro show, the Pistons came out lackluster in the 1st. Boston was up 11-0 to start things, but the Pistons stormed back behind a 13-4 run to take the lead. The Celtics started to play great D, shot 55% and pushed the lead up in their favor bigtime. The C's were up by 18 heading into the half, but not because of their Big 3. It was the Celtics bench providing the points, lead by Rajon Rondo, the promising young guard. Garnett had a vicious dunk during the game, which semi-reminds me of the Vince Carter dunk over the French player for Team USA.

The Pistons showed grit and determination in the 4th as they fought back to make it a single digit lead. However, the Celtics pulled away as the game closed out to take it 94-80. Kevin Garnett was leading scorer for the Celtics with 22 points, with Game 4 set to take place Monday night in Detroit.

All in all, the Celtics have reason to celebrate as they are back on track. Should Detroit win their next home game, Boston has the advantage heading back to Beantown.

Pistons Push Forward

Playing in Philadelphia, the Pistons made the statement that they still should be considered one of the potential NBA champs from the Eastern Conference. Detroit had a commanding double digit lead 79-51 as they headed into the 4th quarter against the Sixers Thursday night. Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups hit a 3 with about 3 seconds left on the clock in the 3rd. Detroit finished off the Sixers 100-77 to advance to the next round. Orlando will be awaiting the Pistons this coming Saturday. An intriguing matchup now comes between big man Dwight Howard & the Magic against the veteran Pistons. During the regular season the two teams split with 2 wins each and last postseason Detroit swept Orlando from the playoffs. According to Inside the NBA on TNT, Dwight Howard averaged 17 points, 11 rebounds. Lucky for Detroit, they are able to hit outside shots, so driving to the lane won't be too "big" a problem. Even so, Prince and Rasheed do have the size to take it to D-Howard.

It's starting to look like the 4 teams that should be here in the next round, will be, with Orlando, Detroit, Cleveland and Boston. These are the best of the best and should provide some interesting matchups. Unless Washington and Atlanta pull of miracles, that should be your Eastern Conference final 4. ...A Celtics versus Pistons matchup in the Eastern finals could rival their playoff series of yesteryear with tough defense, hard fouls and intense basketball. Once the second round arrives, let the big battles begin...

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The Eastern Conference 8 Spot

In the NBA's Eastern Conference, 7 of the 8 playoff spots have been claimed already, with several teams clinching last night. The Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers were among those who will be heading to the playoffs. I'll be the 1st to admit, I just didn't see this Sixers team being worthy of a playoff spot, but then again the East is nowhere near as tough and competitive as the Western Conference.

Here's how things look as of right now:

1 - Boston Celtics (60-15)
2 - Detroit Pistons (54-21)
3 - Orlando Magic (47-28)
4 - Cleveland (42-34)
5 - Philadelphia (39-37)
6 - Washington (39-37)
7 - Toronto (38-38)
8 - Atlanta Hawks (35-41)
-----------------------
(9) Indiana (32-44)
Games remaining: 6 (4 Home, 2 Away)

(10) New Jersey (31-45)
Games remaining: 6 (2 Home, 4 Away)

(11) Chicago (30-45)
Games remaining: 7 (4 Home, 3 Away)

Right now the Atlanta Hawks are perched at the 8 spot in the East. The New Jersey Nets seem to be falling out of contention despite having the talent of Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. Losing a player the caliber of Jason Kidd obviously hurts quite a bit, as he ran the show and basically got the stats needed to help win games. They weren't exactly dominating with Kidd there though. So the Pacers, Bulls and Nets all have a legit shot at the final spot should Atlanta falter along the way. Atlanta, should they make that 8 spot, would be playing Boston first round of the playoffs. A possible preview of that will come April 12th in a regular season contest, in Atlanta. See more about the NBA Playoff picture at ESPN.com

Also in the East, the Milwauke Bucks have lost the services of their rookie Yi for the remainder of this NBA season. The Bucks along with Charlotte, the Knicks and Heat are all lottery bound.

No Easy $ on NBA Contenders

It's definitely still looking wide open in the NBA title chase. As of this point it's going to come down to which team gets an unfortunate injury, or which star player steps it up come the playoffs. Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitski, even Shaq could all help elevate their teams to the promised land. The West still claims to be the best.

One guy who definitely has elevated his play out West is Jason Kidd. When you see his recent assist totals at numbers like 17, it's apparent he's happy where he is, distributing the ball in a much higher scoring, potent offense with the Mavs. It would be pretty impressive to see Kidd break Scott Skile's all time assists in a game record this season.

The Pau Gasol-Kobe Bryant tandem also seems to be working very well in LA. Either Kobe's become a lot less selfish, or Pau Gasol doesn't complain a lot. Either way, it's been working nicely for the Lakers who are up top in the Western Conference. When you add Andrew Bynum back into the equation, the Lakers are that much better.

I hate to jinx Houston but they really seem to be in a "seen it before" almost Groundhog day like performance. We see flashes of how great T-Mac, Yao and the Rockets can be each season, then they falter, and get knocked out of the playoffs early. This season many analysts continue to place them in the candidates for NBA Finals team or champs.

Phoenix may still be a question mark. While many praise the Shaq move, they seem to forget the Suns lost a stat sheet filler with Shawn Marion. Having that "does it all" type player is always an advantage to any team. Lately the Suns couldn't seem to keep up with the East Coast favorite, Detroit Pistons, but the Suns were able to take out Boston. A question mark indeed.

Let's not forget the East because as much flack as they get, they will be sending a competitor to the Finals, and that team will not be a pushover. Lebron's new look Cavs are impressive now that Ben Wallace, Wally Sczerbiak and Delonte West have joined the crew. The knock had been Lebron was all they had going, and that he desperately needed a supporting cast. Now he has it, and that puts Cleveland along with Boston, Detroit and even Orlando as NBA Finals potentials.

At this point, there's no easy money made by betting on any single NBA team...so keep your wallets tight and stay tuned.

Eastern Conference Predictions

With the season starting in less than a day now, here's a look at how the now competitive Eastern side just might finish out. Teams ranked 1 through 8 indicate playoff position.

1) Chicago Bulls - A strong, and very talented group all around. They'll be in the Finals, but runner-ups to the fast and high scoring Phoenix Suns.
2) Cleveland Cavaliers - Last year's Finals runner ups, Lebron will be hungry to get his team there again, but will fall short with tougher competition in the East this year.
3) Boston Celtics - Will the first season for the "Big 3" spell a championship? It will most likely take a year to develop, but they'll be battling for the top spot at the end of the year.
4) Detroit Pistons - This team has held together many of its key contributors for years now including Billups, Wallace (Sheed) and Rip Hamilton. However just like Hamilton's name, the team may become RIP should they not produce come playoff time
5) Miami Heat - Wade should be back to prime form and now he has the scoring services of Ricky Davis to complement him. However, Shaq is aging and they have lost many key components of their title squad.
6) Orlando Magic - Could be the surprise team of the East in the regular season and playoffs. Mr. D Howard is becoming a force to be reckoned with and now has outside weapons such as Rashard Lewis. Watch out.
7) Washington Wizards - It's tough to rank a team with their caliber this low, but the East is so strong, other teams just rank better. Still, Butler should have a career season, and Gilbert will continue to be magical.
8) New Jersey Nets - The combination of Kidd, Jefferson and Carter along with great bench production from Antoine Wright, Jamal Magloire, Josh Boone and Marcus Williams should make for a decent season. Unfortunately, decent won't get it done in the East.
9) Charlotte Bobcats - Going out on a major limb here in saying the Bobcats will be this season's sleeper team, edging out the New York Knicks even, but barely making the playoffs. The addition of Jason Richardson to an already talented young team, makes for some fun up tempo ball.
10)Toronto Raptors - Will barely miss the playoffs in a down to the wire battle with Charlotte this season. Still, they are going to be one of the top teams during the next several years in the East backed by superstar Chris Bosh.
11) New York Knicks - No hating here, they made a great move to bring Zach Randolph to the team. However the team still has an identity crisis. Who's the go to guy? Curry, Randolph, Crawford, Marbury? Stay tuned.
12) Indiana Pacers - It's a highly competitive East and it's hard to imagine that what Indiana will be putting on the court can outdo teams with Howard, Garnett, Shaq , Wallace and Bosh.
13) Atlanta Hawks - Some analysts have penciled them in as a playoff team. They may have talent but I just can't see Josh Smith and company being able to outdo the teams above this spot.
14) Milwaukee Bucks - You've got to feel for Michael Redd, an all out scoring machine who puts up consistent numbers. However they have signed a big man similar to Yao, named Yi, who will be struggling to produce numbers in the new league he's in. Bogut is also considered a semi-disappointment as of right now.
15) Philadelphia 76ers - Iguodola and Korver can shoot and score, but they're far from AI or Chris Webber. Andre Miller provides a decent, consistent point guard to run the little bit of show they have on display in Philly.