NBA’s East makes for compelling playoffs
For years, the NBA Playoffs have given us a tale of two conferences. In the West, we have seen the best basketball on planet Earth, while the East has given us a nice slapstick routine more befitting Vaudeville than a hardwood court and 20,000 horrified spectators.
The Los Angeles Lakers were always dominating alongside the San Antonio Spurs, who have combined at the beginning of the millennium to win nine championships out of the first 16. The East has usually been nothing more than a footnote in the NBA Finals, getting runover and blown out by a vastly superior Western Conference foe.
To an extent, this will once again be the case in 2016. Make no mistake, it will be the Golden State Warriors or Spurs winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June, with some helpless Eastern team sitting on the other bench as the confetti falls and the fans cheer.
Yet, at least this time around, the East can be proud that the field is a legitimate eight teams deep and there is some real talent to go with it. The Cleveland Cavaliers are obviously the best of the bunch with the trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, but the Toronto Raptors are no joke with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry leading the way.
The Boston Celtics have an exciting star in Isaiah Thomas and the finest young coach in the game with Brad Stevens at the helm. The Atlanta Hawks have a quality pairing of Al Horford and Paul Millsap on the inside with Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver on the outside. Beyond that, the Miami Heat still boast Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside. Even the Charlotte Hornets – who are only a half-game behind Atlanta for the top spot in the Southeast Division – are fun to watch with Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson.
While the West might see a pair of below or at-.500 teams make the postseason in the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks, all of the Eastern participants will be well above the even mark. Some of the first-round mathcups will actually be very compelling, with Atlanta, Boston, Miami and Charlotte all good and evenly matched. Those four teams are likely to create two series, and both should be six or seven-game affairs.
It has taken years, but the better basketball is certainly in the Eastern Conference from top to bottom. Of only the East could relegate the Philadelphia 76ers into the D-League, it would really have quite the compelling case.
When the regular season comes to a close and the postseason begins, keep an eye on the East. For the first time in forever, all eight teams are finally worth watching.
