And we just got another big boost with that Chicago win!
Wanna make it really fun? Assume a 3-way time between us, Miami and Indiana (and even more interesting if you throw Brooklyn into the mix, although the tie-breaker would knock them out quickly). This is strictly for fun because it's a Friday and, in no way, represents a prediction:
http://www.nba.com/news/features/playoff.tiebreakers/Tie-breaker #1: No division winners here, so move on
Tie-breaker #2: Win/loss among just the tied teams: Boston beat Indy 3-1; Indy beat Miami 3-1; Miami beat Boston 3-1
Tie-breaker #3: W/L within division: The three are in different divisions, so we skip this one.
Tie-breaker #4: Conference wins: Finally! If the season ended today, Indy 26-24, Boston 24-24, Miami 23-26 within conference. Each has some conf games left (Indy 2, Miami 3, Boston 4), but it's impossible to come up with a set of wins and losses where we still end up with a 3-way tie-breaker. Which is good, because Tie-breaker #5 is W/L against play-off eligible teams, and I just don't have the energy for that one.
Mike