Here is my season preview with more predictions for the eastern conference
Atlantic Division
1. New Jersey – Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson are still one of the most dynamic trios in the NBA. Nenad Krstic should improve and Antoine Wright and Marcus Williams should add depth to the lineup.
2. Philadelphia – They need Samuel Dalembert to be more consistent and Andre Iguodala needs to be more productive as well. Philly certainly has the talent to be a playoff team.
3. Toronto - Key additions will help them make a lot more noise this year, though I still say they miss the playoffs. Bargnani has shown a lot skill in the preseason.
4. New York – The Knicks have a lot of problems, but should improve simply because there's no place to go but up. There's a lot of potential, but a lot of questions too.
5. Boston – They have a lot of young talent, but Szczerbiak is dealing with heavy injury risk and Pierce needs more veteran help.
Central Division
1. Cleveland – I go back and forth on who wins this division. The popular pick is Chicago and you have to think that even with the loss of Ben Wallace the Pistons will be in the mix. Still, I think James takes Cleveland to a division title with some key additions and a healthier Larry Hughes.
2. Chicago – Ben Wallace changes the attitude of this young team. He provides the defensive anchor and toughness they desperately need. He'll pair well with PJ Brown.
3. Detroit – Losing Big Ben hurts, but they still have a lot of talent. Will be a better offensive unit without Big Ben.
4. Indiana – Don't discount their talent. Jermaine O'Neal, Harrington, Tinsley, Jackson with Granger, Marquis Daniels and some other prospects make for a pretty darn good lineup.
5. Milwaukee – They took a step back after losing a quality veteran in Magloire and their top point guard. Still, they've got a lot of talent and Charlie V should put up better numbers as their number two option.
Southeast Division
1. Miami – A lot of veterans and a lot of talent, but they're old and DWade does have some history of injury proneness.
2. Washington – New uniforms and new additions will help this team improve from last season. The big three - Arenas, Jamison and Butler - are the keys.
3. Orlando – Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson are the anchors of this team. They badly needed three point shooting last year and adding J.J. Redick should help some provided he can stay healthy.
4. Charlotte – There's a lot of potential here. Okafor, Wallace and May need to stay healthy, though. Raymond Felton should have a breakout year and Adam Morrison is primed for a big scoring season.
5. Atlanta – Marvin Williams goes down for 6-8 weeks, which will give Josh Childress a chance to shine. They'll be better when Speedy Claxton returns.
Playoff Predictions:
Round 1: (Remember that the NBA changed how the playoffs are laid out, so that the top four teams – three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record) will be ranked according to record. That means, a division leader is not guaranteed one of the top three seeds and may fall to the fourth seed if the next team has a better record than they do. For instance, last season Denver was seeded higher than Dallas because they were a division winner. Yet, Dallas had a much better record. The league fixed that problem.)
1 Cleveland vs 8 Philadelphia = Cleveland wins 4-2
2. Miami vs 7 Indiana = Miami wins 4-1
3. Chicago vs 6 Washington = Chicago wins 4-3
4. New Jersey vs 5 Detroit = Detroit wins 4-3
Round 2:
Cleveland vs Detroit = Cleveland wins 4-3
Miami vs Chicago = Miami wins 4-3
Round 3:
Cleveland vs Miami = Miami wins 4-2
FINALS:
San Antonio vs Miami = San Antonio wins 4-3
