Here's where we are after tonight's win against Milwaukee:
1) Boston: 55-14; 0 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 30th)
2) Milwaukee: 44-25; 11 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 9th)
3) Cleveland: 43-26; 12 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 21st)
4) NYK: 41-27; 13.5 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 16th)
5) Orlando: 41-28; 14 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 12th)
6) Philadelphia: 38-30; 16.5 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 17th)
7) Indiana: 39-31; 16.5 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 13th)
Miami: 38-31; 17GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 28th)
9) Chicago: 34-35; 21 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 22nd)
10) Atlanta: 30-38; 24 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 10th)
So what seedings would you like to see? There's still a lot of variability given how bunched up everyone is with some varying levels of strength of schedule, so I'll put the matchups I'd most like to see.
First Round:
(a) Milwaukee versus one of Miami or Philly (with Embiid back) - obvious reasons why. Gives Milwaukee a really tough first round that has major upset potential. It also would keep both of those teams on the other side of our bracket with Milwaukee likely being 2 or 3. Ideally Milwaukee would land at 3, Miami at 6, and then Philly at 7, though I could see Philly with a healthy Embiid and Maxey being just as good of a chance as knocking off Milwaukee.
(b) Boston versus Chicago or Indiana in the first round - these are probably our two easiest draws in the first round with Atlanta being very unlikely to advance in the play-in, though I could see Chicago playing their way to 8th. We have significant advantages on both teams, particularly with Indy/Haliburton not being anywhere near as good post Haliburton's injury.
(c) Orlando hosting one of NYK or Cleveland (preferable) in the 4/5 matchup - gives Orlando a decent shot at beating either of these teams. We should win any of these series in the second round, but I think Orlando is a step below both teams and still really inexperienced. Also, both NYK and Cleveland will be knockdown, physical defensive series, which increases wear and injury risk on the guys.