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NBA: Predicting the Eastern Conference playoff mess

By Jerran Anderson

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images /

The 2018 Eastern Conference playoff race is a mess. It’s shaping up to be one interesting season finale in the NBA, that’s for sure.

If you told me at the beginning of the 2017-18 NBA season that the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors would be the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, I would have halfway believed you. After all, the Celtics only got better over the summer after falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals.

They acquired point guard Kyrie Irving via trade and signed Gordon Hayward via free agency and haven’t looked back. Granted, Hayward was lost at the beginning of the season to a freak injury, but Boston is still 47-22, second atop the East.

The biggest surprise has been the Toronto Raptors. Toronto is currently first in the East, riding an 11-game winning streak. With a 52-17 record, the Raptors hold a five-game lead over the Celtics. After that, the gap only widens. They lead the eighth-place Miami Heat by 15.5 games for the top spot.

The Celtics and Raptors have already clinched playoff spots, but for the rest of the conference, it’s one big mess. The Indiana Pacers lead the Cleveland Cavaliers for third spot by half a game. The Cavaliers lead the Washington Wizards by half a game for the fourth spot. Washington holds a half-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers for the fifth spot. The Sixers hold a two-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks for the sixth spot. The Bucks currently hold the lead over the Miami Heat for the seventh spot by owning the tiebreaker.

Out of breath yet? Based on the looks of things, this could be the potential playoff field for the Eastern Conference, since the Detroit Pistons trail the Heat by six games for eighth place. Barring a collapse by the Heat, it’s time to predict where each team will finish up in the race for the third through eighth playoff spots.