NBA: HoopsHabit roundtable 2017-18 playoff predictions

The Eastern Conference

Bourguet picks:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Milwaukee Bucks
5. Washington Wizards
6. Miami Heat
7. Charlotte Hornets
8. Philadelphia 76ers

HoopsHabit picks:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Washington Wizards
4. Toronto Raptors
5. Milwaukee Bucks
6. Miami Heat
7. Charlotte Hornets
8. Detroit Pistons

It wasn’t as unanimous for the No. 1 seed as it was out West, but LeBron James powered the Cleveland Cavaliers to 16 votes for top spot in the East.They also received six votes for the 2-seed, two votes for the 3 seed and fell as far as No. 4 on two ballots.

Even with Isaiah Thomas out until January, the presence of the King, Kevin Love, Jae Crowder and Dwyane Wade should keep the Cavs afloat. The Boston Celtics remain Cleveland’s biggest competition for Eastern supremacy, receiving eight votes at No.1, 13 votes at No. 2, four votes at No. 3 and one vote at No. 4.

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This is a great team on paper, with Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving and rookie Jayson Tatum entering the fold, but whether they got better remains to be seen. Younger? Certainly. But are they an actual threat to end LeBron’s Eastern reign, even with IT out half the season?

The HoopsHabit staff is higher on the Washington Wizards than I am, giving them one vote at No. 1, four votes at No. 2, 10 votes at No. 3, nine votes at No. 4 and only two votes at No. 5, where I placed them. John Wall and a healthy Bradley Beal are one hell of a tandem, but the Wizards did nothing to fix their bench woes from last year and will miss Markieff Morris for a few weeks.

The Toronto Raptors clock in at No. 4, which sounds about right for a team that retained its core but lost vital bench pieces in P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson. They earned one vote for the 1-seed, three for the 2-seed, six for the 3-seed, six for the 4-seed, seven for the 5-seed and three for the 6-seed.

Making a push for the top-four are the Milwaukee Bucks, who actually earned the 4-seed on my ballot simply because Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to devour universes in 2017-18. With a healthy Khris Middleton, he’ll have help too, even with Jabari Parker recuperating. The Bucks got three votes at No. 3, six at No. 4, and overwhelming 14 votes at No. 5, one at No. 6, one at No. 7 and were left off one ballot.

Though the Miami Heat were left off more ballots (four) than the Charlotte Hornets (three), Erik Spoelstra earns the popular vote at No. 6 since they earned two votes for the 4-seed, 12 for the 6-seed, six for the 7-seed and two for the 8-seed, compared to Charlotte’s one vote for the 5-seed, nine votes for the 6-seed, eight votes for the 7-seed and five votes for the 8-seed.

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If the Heat can replicate their winning formula when they closed the 2016-17 season on a 30-11 tear, this might be too low for them. The Hornets will be hoping Dwight Howard can help them bounce back and return to the playoffs in a weakened Eastern Conference.

The Detroit Pistons round out the top eight in the group vote, earning one vote at No. 5, one at No.6, seven at No. 7 and six at No. 8. They were left off 11 ballots, but the popular opinion seems to be that Avery Bradley will help Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond bounce back.

The Philadelphia 76ers narrowly miss out on the 8-spot among the crowd, finishing with one vote as high as No. 5, three votes at No. 7, nine votes at No. 8 and being left off 13 ballots. I put them in the final 8-spot simply for the sake of being optimistic that Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons will stay healthy.

The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers received two votes apiece for the 8-seed, while likely tankers Chicago Bulls (one vote at No. 7) and Atlanta Hawks (one MAJOR straggler at No. 3) snuck onto the ballot as well.