Playing ‘Contender or Pretender’ With Eastern Conference Playoff Teams

Given the seven-game nature of the NBA playoffs, only the truly elite have a real shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Which Eastern Conference playoff teams are bona fide contenders, and which are pretenders?

If you’re a sports fan who loves a good underdog story, the NBA playoffs might not be your scene.

Though upsets do happen — almost every year, in fact — very seldom do we experience a top-three seed get knocked off in the first round. Really, the opportunities for series-shockers are limited, simply due to the seven-game structure of every postseason series played; typically, the truly better team can come out with four wins in as many as seven tries.

So naturally, the outcome of the NBA playoffs is far more predictable than, say, its NFL counterpart. This far into the season, we start to get an idea of which playoff teams have a legitimate shot at the NBA Championship, and which are just filling out the spots, patiently awaiting an eventual first- or second-round loss.

The playoff race is tight in both Conferences this year, but especially so in the East. At the time this is being written, five games separate the eighth-seeded Bulls and the third-seeded Celtics. The Celtics are just five games behind the Toronto Raptors, who trail the Cleveland Cavaliers by a meager 2.5 games.

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Still, while the playoff race is close, the same cannot be said about the title race. Even some of the top-seeded teams in the East are plagued with inconsistency. Others lack chemistry and trust.

There’s no shortage of star power, but there’s more to winning a championship than talent. With all other factors also considered, here are the pretenders and the contenders in the Eastern Conference:

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