NBA takeaway No. 3: The Eastern Conference playoff race is going to be a mess…and buckets of fun
Ohhhhhhh baby. Beyond the top three, no one in the Eastern standings is safe. Check this out. Everyone between slots No. 4 and No. 10 are between 19-17 and 16-19.
That does not include the No. 11 Atlanta Hawks who sit at 16-20 and just promoted Nate McMillan who does nothing but get everything out of his teams (honestly guys, I think the Hawks are now more likely to have a legit playoff spot than they are to miss the play-in tournament, barring unfortunate injuries of course).
It is going to be a bloodbath. And the fun won’t stop once the standings are decided. If the season ended today, we would have the Knicks, Hornets, and the Bulls in the playoffs or play-in tournament.
Three teams that weren’t even CLOSE last season. Honestly, I have no idea how this is going to shake out but it is one of the plotlines I will be following more closely in the second half of the season.