Early NBA Playoff Projections

The All-Star break is already upon us, tipping off next weekend, which means that the NBA regular season is winding down in a hurry with roughly 30 games left at this point. I thought I would take this opportunity to take a look ahead at what I feel the NBA playoff picture is going to look like come mid-April.

Early NBA Playoff Predictions:

East
1. Boston Celtics (41-10)
With last night’s overtime loss at home to the Lakers, LA takes the season series 2-0. That means that if Boston and LA finish with identical records that LA will have home court advantage in the playoffs via the tie breaker. The Celtics know how instrumental home court proved to be for them a season ago and I think they’ll work hard to get it again. They will likely even need it to get out of the East as the Cleveland Cavs are unbeaten at home this season.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (39-9)
The Cavs are the best home team in the NBA at 23-0 and I expect LeBron and company to come very close to matching the Celtics season mark. Next year, the East will be LeBron’s alone.

3. Orlando Magic (37-11)
The Magic were dealt a big blow with the loss of All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson and that keeps them from challenging for the top spot in the East.

4. Detroit Pistons (26-21)
Detroit has been a major disappointment this season, but it is still one of the elite defensive teams in the NBA and that will go a long way toward locking up the No. 4 seed.

5. Miami Heat (26-22)
Dwayne Wade is No. 2 in terms of the league MVP behind LeBron on my list this season. This team is young and will continue to improve and I like the Heat to catch the Hawks in the Southeast.

6. Atlanta Hawks (28-20)
The Hawks should move up their playoff seeding and I’m sure Boston will be happy not to see them in round one.

7. Philadelphia 76ers (24-24)
I know Philly lost Elton Brand for the season, but he had missed significant time already and the 76ers have played well. There is a new AI in Philly (Andre Iguodala) who is quietly getting it done every night.

8. New Jersey Nets (23-27)
I can’t see New Jersey continuing to struggle at home. At some point this team is going to start defending its home floor and that gets it in the playoffs.

West
1. Los Angeles Lakers (40-9)
No Andrew Bynum the rest of the regular season, more than likely, but Los Angeles is that much better than every other team in the West with the exception of San Antonio. They have been very impressive on this recent East Coast trip with a big at Boston. Let’s see if LA can survive Cleveland Sunday.

2. San Antonio Spurs (33-15)
The Spurs appear to be the only team standing in the way of LA getting back to the Finals. I’m glad to say it looks like we’ll see the Spurs and the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

3. Denver Nuggets (33-16)
Thanks to the acquisition of Chauncey Billups and the improved play of Nene, the Nuggets jump all the way up to the No. 3 seed this year.

4. Houston Rockets (30-20)
With 18 home games remaining against just 14 road contests, the Rockets, which are much better at home, should find their way into the No. 4 spot as long as the big three stays healthy.

5. Utah Jazz (28-22)
The Jazz have battled injury problems to key players throughout the season. Carlos Boozer is expected to return in the middle of this month and Andrei Kirilenko at the end. When they get back, I expect Utah to go on a winning spree.

6. New Orleans Hornets (28-18)
Like Utah, the Hornets have battled injuries problems of their own. Tyson Chandler should be back by the end of the month and Chris Paul should be back any day now with his groin injury.

7. Portland Trail Blazers (30-18)
The Blazers fell off big time after the All-Star break last season, but there have been enough injuries to key players in the West for them to sneak in this year, even if they do trail off some.

8. Dallas Mavericks (29-20)
The Suns could miss the playoffs this year, as crazy as that sounds. They close with 7 of their last 11 on the road while Dallas gets 5 of its last 6 at home. This race is going to be close and I think the Mavs edge out the Suns in the end.

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