The Eastern Conference standings are very tight this NBA season as we head for the final few weeks of the regular season and there is very little separation between the top teams in the conference and the teams fighting for the last few play-in tournament spots.
Right now, the Miami Heat are 2.5 games up on the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers for the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference, but just 5.0 games separate them from the 6-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and 9 games separate them from the Brooklyn Nets in the standings.
It does not appear that the 8-seeded Nets will have enough time to catch up to the 1-seeded Heat at this time, but they are finally getting Kevin Durant back from his knee injury, Kyrie Irving could be able to play 100% of the time given the vaccine mandates changing and Ben Simmons could make his team-debut within the next two to three weeks.
Up-and-down the Eastern Conference standings, you could make a strong case for many teams to have a shot at making it all the way to the NBA Finals.
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We should be in store for some terrific playoff series this season in the East, yet there are still question marks surrounding the top teams in the conference.
Let’s take a look at one key question each of the top Eastern Conference contenders are facing heading into the final month of the regular season and the playoffs.
