The NBA season is well under way and certainly has been a rodeo since the beginning of the year. I want to only zone in the Eastern Conference and on the teams I think will make the top five seeds.
The Miami Heat will not be edged out by the Chicago Bulls this year for the top seed. While the Bulls extracted their bench and went with cheaper options, the Heat kept their core and added the sharp shooters Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, adding to the depth of their team.
The Chicago Bulls will be second place only because of their hard-nose defense. Tom Thibodeau has proven that defense can get you victories but only if the offense can get rolling. Derrick Rose does not look to be back until the All-Star break at the earliest and it is anybody’s guess how long it will be before he regains his MVP form.
The Boston Celtics should finish in third place with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rando leading the way. The Celtics added Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and Leandro Barbosa to fill the void of Allen, but their age may play a factor and prevent them from finishing in the top two seeds.
It would be wise to have the New York Knicks at the fourth seed with their hot start this season. However, I do not think it will last and the Indiana Pacers will grab the fourth seed. The Pacers are just a solid, hard-nosed team that put a scare into a lot of people last year. Roy Hibbert and Paul George are going through another year of experience and the team will only get better.
The fifth spot I give to the New York Knicks. The team will go as Carmelo Anthony goes and he can possibly lead them higher than the fifth seed, but they have issues with their squad. Once Amar’e Stoudemire returns the team must learn to play with Stoudemire and Anthony together.
Each team will battle to have the chance for the top five spots. The season is young and here’s looking forward to a great NBA season.
