Who will WIN the East

[MISSERY]

as for the most intriguing team in the east, over the salary cap,
for the support of pierce and garnett, i think they can beat the heat in a 7game series

my only concern is indiana pacers, bynum west stephenson george can all rebounds
with kg's back spams would you play kg 1st to 4th quarter 7 game series or 18 minutes per game?

wizards with a healthy nene gortat gooden booker, inside attack strategy can beat a team with a big man line-up, and with the best point guard in the east john wall and beal be enough?

bobcats will all rely on al jefferson, no rebounds and no points = 1st round exit, and the help of your scorers like garry neal did on spurs last year and some MKG

raptors has no playoffs experienced but an interior defender of amir johnson and a rebounder of valencuinas, plus the hot kyle lowry, and scoring derozan and ross enough?

indiana can beat you inside, unless your a quick team like the suns who beat the pacers, did the trade for granger affects the chemistry? but turner is an insurance player, if stephenson don't resign next year, bynum can give you 10 rebounds and a couple of points while hibbert can score and clogged the middle specially small ball line-ups, contest shots from paul geogre? and trap george hill? zone defense?

heat signed oden but anyone is better than him, since the loss of mike miller 3 point shooting is missed, specially that shane battier is doing bad, and how long can you contain lebron james? is d-wade healthy come playoffs? is chalmers like felton the worst starting point guards? will it work by making the heat team a mid-range jump shooter and outrebound them? i don't see help from lewis, douglas, even beasley
 
chicago bulls  even without deng they are still one of the tough team to beat specially big man line-up, noah is all around center who can assist score and rebounds, with the help of gibson and boozer, will it be enough if noah and boozer grabs double double with the bench player help of gibson? if ever d-rose comes back, what impact will he bring to this team? will you play agaustin and hope for 30+ points with the help of dunleavy snell and others? with a defensive minded coach, i think they should have kept andrew bynum to back-up noah

nets got pierce and garnett who has some playoffs experienced, the question is will kg be healthy come playoffs? also kirilenko to match up with the best SF in the east, with a slow team going small ball line-up, can they beat the bigman line-up of pacers or bulls or wizards who put some good numbers againt's the nets specially gooden? as for the miami heat, pierce for lebron, ak47 for lebron or mirza for lebron, it all rely on the health of d-wade and there rebounding presence, with a rookie coach, its all up to jason kidd for his minutes restrictions and 7 or 8 or 9 man rotation

knicks or hawks for me are 1st round exit team

any reaction? feel free to comment
thanks and more power to this celtics blog

[Who]

Two horse race in the East - Miami and Indiana. The rest are just there to make up the numbers.

I like Indy over Miami. The Pacers played Miami very tough last season and I think P.George and L.Stephenson have matured and grown since then + that they have upgrade their supporting cast with Luis Scola and CJ Watson (and hopefully Evan Turner too if he learns how to fit in). So a much stronger team than the one who played Miami last season and pushed them to a 7 game series. This year, I think they'll take that next step and knock out Miami to make the Finals.

[Clench123]

Indiana Pacers without a doubt.  I'd even go as far as saying they'll win the championship

[Smokeeye123]

Pacers don't have the mindset of a champion but I think they could beat the heat. The Pacers and Heat play down to competition almost every game and turn it on late.

Whichever team makes it out West will smoke them.

[Mr October]

I think the champion will come out of the West as well.

Indiana has been inconsistent and has major scoring droughts. Miami is beat up and tired. Does Lebron have enough to carry them again? That series is a coin flip for me. Right now i give Miami a tiny edge.

[MISSERY]

if kg would be healthy and ak47 is also healthy and.... collins can play and back-up kg until 4th quarter to match-up with hibbert and bynum, because im not putting blatche or plumlee on either bynum or hibbert, if you look at alexis ajinca in pelicans bad defense but at least 10 rebounds 6points seems helpful for a team, i was thinking collins will not need to guard post defense one player only, because if lebron wade chalmers and goegre west stephenson are all on attack, we got a problem, let say pierce and ak47 healthy will guard those george and lebron, maybe mirza will be on rotation, the question is how will u stop d-wade chalmers stehphenson west, if you got a weak defender or average rebounders

[manl_lui]

Indiana is looking very good right now. They are inconsistent but their talent level are stacked from position 1 to 5.

So are the Miami Heat. If healthy, Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are no joke...Bosh always came up big in the playoffs for Miami.

Beast of the East this year, and I am betting my money on a Miami and Indiana duel in the Eastern Conference Finals with Indiana finally taking the East crown.

Miami always had a problem with big men since the big 3 got together, whether it was against us (regular season with Shaq, Perk, KG and JO rotation), to Dallas (Dirk, and Tyson). They even struggled in the finals against the Spurs with Duncan.

Indiana this year boast one of the best defense and best front court int he league. Hibbert, Scola, Bynum and David West is going to wear Bosh down so much this year. Bird built this team to win. I don't mind the inconsistency right now cuz there's like what 12 games left in the season and they are still sitting on the top of the conference. Whether Miami and Indiana changes places 1 or 2, they should still be able to cruise through round 1 and 2.

[Endless Paradise]

I think the Pacers will beat the Heat in the ECF, but the Nets and Bulls are candidates for taking out Miami and Indiana, respectively.  The Nets just seem to match up well with the Heat and the Bulls can match the Pacers' physicality and rugged defense.

[MISSERY]

I think the Pacers will beat the Heat in the ECF, but the Nets and Bulls are candidates for taking out Miami and Indiana, respectively.  The Nets just seem to match up well with the Heat and the Bulls can match the Pacers' physicality and rugged defense.

i think nets can beat miami but pacers with rebounders of bynum west stephenson and a 7'2 shot blocker, hhmm
if kg is not healthy, on defense, noah boozer gibson is enough

[MISSERY]

sounds like heat vs. pacers ECF Finals

[D.o.s.]

Nets would need to have everything to go right to make it to the ECF.

The Nets team feels like our team from 2012 but with more talent top to bottom. If that team took Miami to 7, then this team could take Miami out -- assuming everything goes right.

Chicago could be one of those teams that makes Miami or Indiana pretty venerable. They don't roll over. And, if Rose comes back (warning: ridiculously farfetched) then they become even more of a debilitating speed bump. I don't think they make it past the second round, but I think they make for an exhausting series.

I think the Wizards and the Bobcats will be fun to watch -- excited to see John Wall in the post-season for the first time, and Al Jefferson when it's not a game that starts at 11 PM.

I don't know how to feel about Toronto or Atlanta.

I would really love to see the Knicks make the 8th seed and beat Miami. That would probably make this entire season worth it for me.

[PaulPierce34G]

I still think Miami is the team to beat in the EC.  Indy has had a very, very good season in the grand scheme of things, but I think the Heat will make a 4th straight trip to the NBA Finals.  We'll see.

[fitzhickey]

Miami v Indy is a toss up. I think Chicago could upset either of those teams, but I really hope Spurs win one more title.

[SparzWizard]

The Bulls are lacking of a true point-guard. They will not get past the second-round.

The Wizards, Bobcats, and Raptors are inexperienced playoff teams and all looking at a first-round exit.

Atlanta has been mediocre for many years, expect the same results this year. First-round fodders.

Brooklyn Nets have an all-star line and at least two of their veteran starters have been in championship games before (Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett). But I don't see them making it to the NBA Finals this year.

Indiana Pacers are very dominant and if Roy Hibbert, David West, and Andrew Bynum hold their fort...they will make it to the big stage.

Miami Heat...as long as they have prime LeBron James, I don't see them getting ousted early. But in my heart, I do anticipate to see them get swept in the second-round.

Realistic outcome- Heat/Pacers ECF, Pacers in 7.
Fantasy outcome- Raptors/Pacers ECF. I'd love to see DeRozan and Lowry win a ring this year!