NBA Eastern Conference Predictions: The Beast is in the East

The Boston Celtics basically decided it was time to relive those memories of Larry Bird hitting 30-foot jumpers at the old Garden parquet if Larry Bird had Bill Russell and Tiny Archibald on his team. Since those Celtics of lore are about 10 years apart in terms of their playing careers having them play together would be impossible. But the Celtics of new are breaking all the rules in terms of having three superstars play on the same team. If you recall the Los Angeles Lakers tried this not too many years ago, when Gary Payton and Karl Malone put their retirement plans aside for one season and joined Shaq and Kobe for a run at glory. Of course that story ended in no ring and many shoulders shrugging. Is that gonna be the story again? The Celtics now have Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen running the show, three stars with distinct types of games. Garnett is the show-stopper, Pierce the playmaker and Allen the ice-cold shooter. At the moment the Celts have a six-game lead on Detroit, their closest foe. After that Orlando is 13 ½ games behind Boston. So that tells you right away that Boston is the beast in the East.

1 Boston Celtics vs. 8 Atlanta Hawks

2 Detroit Pistons vs. 7 Toronto Raptors

3 Orlando Magic vs. 6 Philadelphia 76ers

4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 5 Washington Wizards