The sad race for the final playoff spots in the NBA’s Eastern Conference
The NBA's Eastern Conference has six quality teams, and then the rest of it is bad. The race for the final playoff spots is especially ugly.
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For the first time in what seems like forever, one can credibly argue that the NBA's Eastern Conference — at least through the top six — may be more formidable than the West. The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers may still be the title favorites, but the Milwaukee Bucks are on pace for 70 wins, the Toronto Raptors have the same number of victories (39) as the top-seeded Lakers, and any one of the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat-Indiana Pacers-Philadelphia 76ers quartet could potentially defeat the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, or Oklahoma City Thunder in a playoff series.
The NBA's title chase felt as open as ever coming into the season, and a newfound balance of quality at the top of each conference is a welcome result of the increased parity league-wide.
But while the bottom of the West playoff picture includes Luka Doncic (in the No. 7 seed), the upstart Memphis Grizzlies, one of last year's conference finalists (Portland Trail Blazers), the San Antonio Spurs (hanging around) and Zion Williamson, the bottom of the East's playoff picture is … decidedly less fun.
Once you get past the Pacers (31-22 after a five-game skid as they reincorporate Victor Oladipo), the quality of teams fighting for playoff positioning dramatically dips. The Brooklyn Nets (23-28), at No. 7, have toiled through an injury-riddled season, and Kyrie Irving remains out indefinitely with a knee injury. Irving has suited up for just 20 games in his debut campaign in Brooklyn, and the team hasn't played particularly inspiring basketball with him on the court, anyway. The free-falling Orlando Magic (22-31) remain in the No. 8 seed, despite dropping 11 of their past 15 games.
In sharp contrast to the intriguing and heated race for the eighth seed out West, the teams (somehow) in contention for the East's final playoff spot are just bad — in some cases purposefully so. The Washington Wizards (18-32), Chicago Bulls (19-34), and Detroit Pistons (19-36) — all reeking of lottery stench — sit within four games back of Orlando. The Wizards field the worst defense in the NBA. Chicago has been one of the most banged-up teams in basketball of late, going without Otto Porter Jr. for most of the season and dealing with a nightmarish season from Lauri Markkanen and a severe ankle injury to Wendell Carter Jr. Detroit is essentially tanking without Blake Griffin, especially after the trade of Andre Drummond.
In fact, the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race is so hapless that … even the New York Knicks are now in the conversation. (Yes, you can laugh.) Amidst a four-game winning streak, the Knicks (17-36) are just five games back of Orlando, and don't think Knicks fans haven't spent the weekend envisioning two thrilling Garden playoff losses to Giannis.
The top of the East may be the strongest it has been in years — especially if the Sixers can get their groove back— but its bottom half is as weak as ever. While the West features League Pass-worthy teams from top to bottom, the Charlotte Hornets can not-outrageously talk themselves into the postseason picture, even after losing five games in a row. (Orlando, Chicago, and New York — again, all technically still in the playoff race — are the three worst non-Warriors offensive teams in the NBA, by the way.)
The Celtics are two back of the Raptors for the No. 2 seed, and I'd bet both teams will be gunning hard to secure that spot for a drastically more favorable first-round matchup.