It's the All-Star break and time to asses where the season is at. There are roughly 30 games left and the trading deadline is looming. Here is a look at the playoffs if they were today.
1 Cleveland vs. 8 Chicago
2 Orlando vs 7 Miami
3 Atlanta vs 6 Charlotte
4 Boston vs 5 Toronto
Chicago looks like they have regressed overall from last year. But lately, they have started getting into the groove. Derrick Rose is unreal and they might win a game but they won't beat Cleveland.
Miami has one of the top 3 players in the game in Dwayne Wade. This team could look different by playoff time. No matter how the team looks, it would take an incredible performance for even Wade to beat out Orlando.
Charlotte is a great story of over achieving. They might be able to push Atlanta to a game 6, but that would be the best they could do.
The quietest success has been Toronto. They are the 5th seed and no one is talking about them. They have a shot to beat the Celtics if Boston is plagued with injuries. But this has been a good year so far for the Raptors.
Boston has fallen from favorite to the 4th seed. They still have the experience and firepower to go all the way. But, to do that everyone is going to have to get healthy and be at peak level which hasn't happened this year. Time is running out on the Celtics.
3 Atlanta has the best team in years. They could be the underdog favorite after the first round. A matchup with Orlando in round 2 is going to be fun. Should they get past the Magic, they will be convinced they can beat anybody.
2 Orlando is playing really good and has shown they can win without all 5 starters. This team can win under any circumstance and is capable of shooting the 3 ridiculously well. Right now, I think the Magic are the team to beat in the East.
1 Is this Lebron's year to explode? Winning a championship propelled Jordan from super star to something we had never seen before. LeBron canbeat teams on his own. Shaq is coming along gaining strength as the season goes on and could be a force in the playoffs. They are winning without both the starting and backup point guards. If they can get Williams back in time for the playoffs, this team could win it all.
