Four Potential Candidates For Champion Of Eastern Conference

Today is the last day of All-Star Weekend. After the midseason break, NBA’s second half this season will begin soon. From my observation in the first half, 4 teams are potential competitors for the champion of Eastern Conference in the playoffs. The four teams are Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks.

Miami Heat

As the best record keeper this season in the Eastern Conference, Heat’s good balance between defense and offense, the good chemical between the Big Three and ample experiences made Heat the most potential competitor.

Chicago Bulls

Because of Derrick Rose’s injury, Bulls dropped from No.1 place to No.2 before All-Star Weekend. It does not matter at all. A healthy Bulls, with Richard Hamilton’s arrival and a better Deng will be the biggest trouble maker for Miami Heat in the playoffs.

Philadelphia 76ers

Doug Collins is an amazing coach. He deserves the title of best coach, at least in the first half. A team with no superstar has a record as good as 20-14. It is really impressive that 6 players’ average scores are double-digit. 76ers is the so-called TEAM. They look pretty good this season. We will absolutely hear their voice in the playoffs.

New York Knicks

It will take some time for Knicks to become a real team after all the talents assembled. The lineup is gorgeous. Besides all-star Anthony and Stoudemire, the rising star Jeremy Lin, Knicks have newcomers this season, including J.R Smith, Baron Davis, Chandler. No one can deny they are really competitive, but there remains two questions. One is how well will they fit in with each other before the playoffs begin. Another is in D’Antoni’s system, point guard has an extremely important role to play. I do not believe the rookie Jeremy Lin will be capable enough in the playoffs. Keeping a good balance between BD and Lin will be a crucial task for D’Antoni. They can beat any team if their chemical reaction works well. If not, they are possibly swept off in the first round.

Why not others?

We can’t expect too much of the aging Celtics this season. Magic did a good job recently, but while their biggest opponents are making progress, they seem to have no improvements this season. So does Hawks. By the way, Boston and Orlando have already been engaged in the trade rumors.

*Indiana Pacers

Pacers is somewhat like 76ers. Their record so far is not bad, while most of their wins are not as persuasive as 76ers. My observation about this team is limited, so I cannot easily draw a conclusion. Finally, I decided to put a * for them.