First and 10th seed in the East only separated by 3.5 games

[Papaya Petee]

Pretty nuts seeing as were past the Christmas mark.

A couple good games from Boston, Detroit, Indiana, Orlando and a couple bad games from Miami, Cleveland and Atlanta and we could see the entire conference shift places.

Awesome stuff from the Eastern Conference this season. Teams like Orlando and Boston are starting to look dangerous with their young teams. Atlanta proving that they weren't a fluke last season and fighting hard to be a top 3 seed again. Miami showing that they are well balanced and can be a finals contender. Cleveland like people expected at the top, although struggling.

Indiana looking good with Paul George playing awesome basketball post terrible injury. Toronto looking great with a dynamic back court. Even Charlotte at 16-13 surprising a lot of people.

Underachievers- Chicago Bulls. I think they will pick it up, but for right now they are looking average, not like contenders. Also, Washington Wizards at 14-14 are playing below expectations. New York Knicks I assumed everyone thought they would think.

Biggest disappointment being easily Milwaukee. With their young balanced lineup a lot of us had them in the top 4 coming into the season. Lets see if they can bounce back.

Also, Phillys a joke. Good season so far in the East, lets see how it plays out :cheers:

[DMV2]

I guess we can shut up about LeBron not playing the West now.

Imagine if he loses in the 1st round though...:lol

Hornets got great offense. Pistons....Stan Van upset LeBron before.

[PsychoBe]

4 of the top 5 teams are in the west.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

12th in the East (NYK) have a better record than 8th in the West (UTA).

[GIF REACTION]

Deep East.

[pastis]

east seems deeper than the west this year. but which east team, except the cavs. would win a bo7 against top 4 west? seriously? bulls maybe?

[ArbitraryWater]

PG is having his annual cool-down after a hot 2 months start

[fsvr54]

Clips aren't much of a threat, I think a few Eastern Conference teams could beat them.

[StephHamann]

4 of the top 5 teams are in the west.

/thread

The east only looks strong because the Rockets/Clippers/Pelicans play like ass against the east.

[ArbitraryWater]

Raps/Bulls/Hawks are on that Clippers/Rockets level, easily

[PsychoBe]

Raps/Bulls/Hawks are on that Clippers/Rockets level, easily

maybe in the east but definitely not in the west. put them in a 7-game series and the top west teams will bully the top east teams over and over again.

[Papaya Petee]

For the people saying top 4 teams are in the West... aside from GSW and SAS the other elite teams except the

[ArbitraryWater]

maybe in the east but definitely not in the west. put them in a 7-game series and the top west teams will bully the top east teams over and over again.

Pretty sure all the teams I just mentioned would beat the Clippers/Rockets, hell, I like the Bulls over OKC...

and as just mentioned, Heat have been wrecking the West pretty nicely too.

[AirBonner]

East is a straight up bloodbath. 50 wins might barely be enough for 8th seed :biggums:

[Legends66NBA7]

Raps/Bulls/Hawks are on that Clippers/Rockets level, easily

The bold is not. Let's see what they do when it matters.

[HylianNightmare]

Only one team is coming out of the east though,that team will in turn lose in the finals

[Papaya Petee]

Only one team is coming out of the east though,that team will in turn lose in the finals
Aight boys wrap it up seasons over. Hylian predicted the future.

[GrapeApe]

I don't know why people think it's a foregone conclusion that the winner of the west will win the finals. We saw a severely shorthanded Cavs team push the Warriors to 6 games. Anything can happen in a single series, and things rarely go exactly as expected.

[DMV2]

The bold is not. Let's see what they do when it matters.
very true. Raptors have been a great regular season team for the past 2 years. Choked in the playoffs to a Paul Pierce team every time.

He's in the West now, maybe they can advance to the 2nd Rd. :lol

[PsychoBe]

I don't know why people think it's a foregone conclusion that the winner of the west will win the finals. We saw a severely shorthanded Cavs team push the Warriors to 6 games. Anything can happen in a single series, and things rarely go exactly as expected.

the grizzlies "pushed" the warriors to 6 games too :facepalm

aside from the cavs in a 7-game series no team in the least stands a chance against the top 4 in the west. not a single one.

[dubeta]

West is a f*cking cakewalk :lol

[Dresta]

the grizzlies "pushed" the warriors to 6 games too :facepalm

aside from the cavs in a 7-game series no team in the least stands a chance against the top 4 in the west. not a single one.
:facepalm

****ing delusional. Only teams that stand out in the West are Golden State and San Antonio. Miami are 9-1 against the West; OKC are 6-8 against the East; stop with your bullshit already.

[dubeta]

:facepalm

****ing delusional. Only teams that stand out in the West are Golden State and San Antonio. Miami are 9-1 against the West; OKC are 6-8 against the East; stop with your bullshit already.


Heat won't make the playoffs

[Straight_Ballin]

I don't know why people think it's a foregone conclusion that the winner of the west will win the finals. We saw a severely shorthanded Cavs team push the Warriors to 6 games. Anything can happen in a single series, and things rarely go exactly as expected.

Things go EXACTLY as expected when it comes to Cleveland sports. This isn't some march madness we are talking here. Each year, the fans in Cleveland go in with an expectation that their teams will never win a championship like they have been for the last 50+ years and that is exactly what happens. :lol

If anyone wants to bet accounts that CLE won't win the finals, I'd be happy to take that bet.

[fiddy]

Mediocre shit

[Straight_Ballin]

Heat won't make the playoffs

Bosh just dropped 30-10 on Christmas day. He couldn't do it with Lebron playing with him because Lebron made him resort to being a spot up shooter.

Cancer ball.

[GrapeApe]

Heat won't make the playoffs

Care to make a wager? An avy bet? Probably not because you don't actually believe anything you say.

[dubeta]

Care to make a wager? An avy bet? Probably not because you don't actually believe anything you say.


You probably thought that sounded silly last year as well

[WayOfWade]

very true. Raptors have been a great regular season team for the past 2 years. Choked in the playoffs to a Paul Pierce team every time.

He's in the West now, maybe they can advance to the 2nd Rd. :lol
Watch the Raptors make a finals run, only to lose to a Paul Pierce-led Clippers

[WayOfWade]

You probably thought that sounded silly last year as well
He asked you a simple question

[Magic 32]

Parity but not quality.

[Derka]

Parity makes watching these games more fun and makes these games, even in December, actually mean something.

Granted, I feel like it's a race to see who loses to SA or GS in the Finals...but the journey should be fun all the same.

[MMM]

Parity but not quality.

How so??

There are more good teams (top 10 teams) in the East than the west.

GSW
SAS
CLE
OKC

Would take ATL, Tor, Mia over LAC

Than you got Bos, Indy, Det, etc over Mem, Dal and Hou

If quality only means title contenders then why isn't it argued that the East from 08-12 wasn't superior to the west???

[GrapeApe]

You probably thought that sounded silly last year as well

Last year at this time the Heat were under .500 and had already been decimated with injuries. Even so, they would have likely made the playoffs if Bosh doesn't miss the second half of the year. You're essentially predicting multiple core players to have season ending injuries. If you're confident that will happen, make a wager.

[Legends66NBA7]

Watch the Raptors make a finals run, only to lose to a Paul Pierce-led Clippers

When you think how awful both franchises are historically, that would be some bizzaro world scenario.


I don't think Paul Pierce would be a problem this time around with a healthy DeMarre Carroll/James Johnson guarding at SF and Pierce declining to make a major difference. Also, Pierce was having major success in those playoffs when he moved to PF. Doubt he moves to PF and take out Griffin.