NBA Atlantic Update: Celtics Moving Up The Standings

Last week we told you to watch out for the Boston Celtics. Well, a week later the Celtics are now only one half game away form the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics moved into a tie for the sixth spot with a thrilling overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics blew a 12 point fourth quarter lead over the Hawks who forced the game to overtime. But led By Paul Pierce with 27 points and Jason Terry with 19 points, both of who hit big three point shots in overtime, the Celtics prevailed 107-102.

Now three teams are withing a half game of each other in spots five through seven. The Chicago Bulls are a half game ahead after pulling out a one point win on a Marco Belinelli three point shot.  The Bulls trail the all important fourth spot, currently held by the Brooklyn Nets, by one game. The fourth place team will get the home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The other tight battle in the East is between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers for the second spot. Right now the Pacers lead the Knicks by a half game for second after routing the Orlando Magic on Friday night.

This is exactly what you want as a fan and a league, meaningful games every night to end the season. The Miami Heat has the one seed well in hand and the Milwaukee Bucks are firmly in charge of the eighth spot. Those two will play in the first round. The other match ups are really up in the air now. The Knicks and Pacers are looking at the Hawks and Celtics right now. But that could all change very quickly All six of these teams could wind up playing any of the other five.

So out of those six teams, who id the hottest? That would have to be the Celtics and Pacers. The Pacers have won eight of their last ten while the Celtics have won seven. The Nets are 6-4 in their last ten while the Bulls, Hawks and Knicks are 5-5.

Three of these six team are also fighting for the Atlantic Division championship. Two are from the Big Apple while the other, from their biggest rival city, Boston. Does it get bigger than this? With the Nets representing Brooklyn for the first time in any sport since the Dodgers left for Los Angeles, going against the storied franchises of the Knicks and Celtics, this is a division race fans will likely not forget anytime soon.