NBA Eastern Conference Predictions: The Beast is in the East

The Boston Celtics basically decided it was time to relive those memories of Larry Bird hitting 30-foot jumpers at the old Garden parquet if Larry Bird had Bill Russell and Tiny Archibald on his team. Since those Celtics of lore are about 10 years apart in terms of their playing careers having them play together would be impossible. But the Celtics of new are breaking all the rules in terms of having three superstars play on the same team. If you recall the Los Angeles Lakers tried this not too many years ago, when Gary Payton and Karl Malone put their retirement plans aside for one season and joined Shaq and Kobe for a run at glory. Of course that story ended in no ring and many shoulders shrugging. Is that gonna be the story again? The Celtics now have Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen running the show, three stars with distinct types of games. Garnett is the show-stopper, Pierce the playmaker and Allen the ice-cold shooter. At the moment the Celts have a six-game lead on Detroit, their closest foe. After that Orlando is 13 ½ games behind Boston. So that tells you right away that Boston is the beast in the East.

1 Boston Celtics vs. 8 Atlanta Hawks

2 Detroit Pistons vs. 7 Toronto Raptors

3 Orlando Magic vs. 6 Philadelphia 76ers

4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 5 Washington Wizards

Boston has revamped its roster, infamously, and the results have been impressive. 61 wins in one season against 15 losses, a 40-plus game improvement from last year's Boston outfit and quite possibly the single most improvement in the history of professional sports. Kevin Garnett has been his usual superstar self, averaging nearly a double-double this season and buying wholeheartedly into the Celtics culture, something that was expected. Paul Pierce's numbers have been down from previous years, probably because he isn't the only focal point. But he is still the team's leading scorer. Ray Allen has basically come in and helped out when the other two have been out with injuries, averaging 18 points per game. But it's his three-point shooting that has kept the Celtics ahead of their opponents. And Rajon Rondo has done a nice job at the point guard spot, a reason you can't discount the Celts' chances at a ring. Four other players average seven points a game and so Boston has some depth, too. Their likely first-round opponent, barring a total collapse, will be the Atlanta Hawks, a young team with loads of talent in the front court but not much to speak of after that. But the Celtics would certainly welcome an opponent like Atlanta, for the Hawks are not exactly the most healthy team in the world. But Atlanta does have Joe Johnson, their franchise player. The problem with a Celtics-Hawks matchup is that Boston has three franchise players.

Detroit is poised for its annual run at the title, with Richard Hamilton leading the way for the deep, veteran Pistons. Hamilton has been banged up of late but there is a feeling in Motown that it is just a temporary setback and that he'll be back for the playoffs. Chauncey Billups is enjoying a nice season, averaging 17.3 a game and shooting 92 percent from the charity stripe. Tayshaun Prince is pumping in about 13 points a contest and Antonio McDyess has even remained relatively healthy given his injury woes. The thing about Detroit that should keep them in the mix is their depth, but the Toronto Raptors do have All-Star Chris Bosh and an underrated but solid starting five. The frightening thing about the Raptors is that they can score in bunches and they're deep like Detroit. But the fellas from Canada have not exactly been winning games, which is the reason Toronto could either stay in the seven spot or drop all the way to eighth. Either spot means trouble for the Raptors, who are likely a year or two away. But with players like Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani the future looks bright up north.

Dwight Howard runs the show down south in Orlando now that the Magic are the state's feature attraction. After languishing in the Miami Heat's shadow for years Orlando finally broke out--and come to think of it, so did Hedo Turkoglu, shooting a mesmerizing 40 percent from behind the arc. The Magic can score like nobody's business but again it's the defense that comes into question. The Southeast Division champions won't move from the No. 3 spot but they will be tested by the rapidly improving Philadelphia 76ers. Philly lost Allen Iverson last year and Kyle Korver this year but it's almost as if the Sixers haven't lost a step. In fact it almost looks like they've gained some. Andre Iguodala has finally emerged as the Sixers' star and Andre Miller has simply had a stellar year. The X factor for this team is their free-throw shooting, which should carry them well into the playoffs, even against Dwight Howard and his tendency to erase anything in the paint. Willie Green and Louis Williams have been, simply put, surprising. The issue with the Sixers, as with most NBA teams, is depth. Philly only goes nine deep and that's gonna become a factor later in the playoffs. But they may just have enough to slip past Orlando and cause some acid indigestion for their second-round opponent.

Finally, what has happened to King LeBron and his Cleveland crew? After dominating the East to the point of no return in last year's conference playoffs the Cavaliers have simply been okay. LeBron has been fighting a bad back from the past few weeks and is still putting up 30 a contest. The Big Z, as in Zydrunas Ilgauskas has actually had a decent season by his standards. But the point production drops off significantly after these two. The late-season acquisition of Wally Scszerbiak may help the Cavs by the time the playoffs roll around in two weeks, but his production numbers have yet to be seen. Eric Snow's injury hasn't helped either. But Snow may actually be 100 percent by playoff time. So you can't write Cleveland off, not with LeBron resting his aching back, anyway. And you certainly can't forget about the Washington Wizards, which makes this 4 vs. 5 matchup one to watch, provided neither team continues freefalling to the bottom. The Wizards have been hammered by injuries, which seems to be the story in the East this year. The other story for Washington is that while Gilbert Arenas has been injured, Antawn Jamison has picked up the slack and is the team's leading scorer, as well as being a pretty solid three-point shooter for his position (34 percent). Also helping out in Arenas' absence is Caron Butler (20 points a game) and DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood have stepped up as well, with Haywood providing the inside beef the Wizards have always lacked. They're even deep and that will present somewhat of a problem for the Cavs. The other problem that will present itself is Arenas' expected return from his surgically repaired knee, right about playoff time.

PREDICTED TEAMS AND PLAYOFF SEEDING

Boston has the no. 1 spot all locked up. They just don't know who they're playing. Indiana is still mathematically in the hunt for the no. 8 spot but it would take an Atlanta Hawk meltdown. Detroit is also jammed into the no. 2 spot like a lug nut on a Ford Mustang. But Toronto is not. However, the Raptors have games with 4 of 5 non-playoff teams in two weeks, which means they could even move to the fourth spot if the teams above them start dropping. Orlando is stuck in the no. 3 spot as well, so that leaves us with the afore-mentioned teams in a logjam at nos. 4 through 6, currently Cleveland, Washington and Philadelphia. Philly is playing the best ball of any of the three but they have a brutal last five, with games against Detroit, Indiana and Washington and that's just the first week. It doesn't get much better for Washington, who has Boston, Detroit and Philly in the first week, and Indiana and Orlando in the last. Which leaves us with Cleveland, who couldn't have asked for an easier schedule in their last five. Winnable games with New Jersey, Chicago and Miami should lock down that no. 4 spot before their final week. But that all depends on how LeBron is feeling.

1 Boston Celtics

2 Detroit Pistons

3 Orlando Magic

4 Cleveland Cavaliers

5 Philadelphia 76ers

6 Washington Wizards

7 Toronto Raptors

8 Indiana Pacers