We just need to be brutally honest about where we are right now.

[Wurider05]

You just have to admit that the East simply got better than what anyone anticipated. I am looking at the standings and it's no lock that we can beat any of the teams that are currently above us in a 7 game series. Can we beat many of them yes we can but it's no forgone conclusion. I know that we have had issues staying healthy and that should be taken into consideration but this is not the same east from last year. I have said it before and  I will say it again if we wouldn't have made the playoffs last year this team would probably look a lot different than it does now. Not being a homer but I honestly believe that if we would have been fully healthy last year we would have won the NBA championship without a doubt. But that was last year. 

Eastern Conference

TEAM	W	L	WIN%	GB	CONF	DIV	HOME	ROAD	OT	LAST 10	STREAK
1 Miami Heat	34	20	.630	--	21-12	9-2	18-6	16-14	0-3	6-4	W 2
2 Chicago Bulls	33	20	.623	0.5	22-13	7-3	19-7	14-13	0-1	5-5	L 1
3 Milwaukee Bucks	34	21	.618	0.5	21-16	7-3	19-9	15-12	0-2	7-3	W 3
4 Cleveland Cavaliers	33	21	.611	1	19-11	6-3	17-9	16-12	0-0	7-3	W 2
5 Philadelphia 76ers	32	21	.604	1.5	18-13	4-6	14-11	18-10	2-1	7-3	W 1
6 Toronto Raptors	28	23	.549	4.5	20-14	5-5	16-12	12-11	2-1	7-3	W 5
7 Brooklyn Nets	29	24	.547	4.5	20-9	6-1	12-13	17-11	2-0	2-8	L 8
8 Boston Celtics	30	25	.545	4.5	21-14	5-6	18-10	12-15	4-2	7-3	W 5
9 Charlotte Hornets	28	26	.519	6	18-15	5-6	14-10	14-16	0-4	4-6	L 4
10 Atlanta Hawks	25	28	.472	8.5	14-17	6-5	15-12	10-16	0-0	7-3	L 2

[Diesel]

This is panic talk.  Let's be a little more directly.

The East was better last year. 

Last Year.

Quote

Rk	Team	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Brooklyn Nets*	72	17405	43.0	87.1	.494	14.1	36.0	.392	28.9	51.1	.565	18.1	22.5	.804	8.9	35.5	44.3	26.7	6.7	5.3	13.5	19.0	118.3
5	Milwaukee Bucks*	72	17330	43.6	89.6	.487	14.1	36.2	.389	29.6	53.4	.554	15.8	20.9	.760	10.0	36.9	46.9	24.9	7.9	4.5	13.5	16.9	117.2
8	Atlanta Hawks*	72	17405	41.5	88.8	.468	12.6	33.9	.373	28.9	54.8	.526	20.0	24.7	.812	10.7	35.7	46.4	24.5	7.1	4.8	13.5	19.7	115.7
10	Boston Celtics*	72	17380	42.0	90.0	.466	13.8	36.8	.374	28.2	53.2	.530	16.3	21.0	.775	10.8	34.0	44.8	23.7	7.8	5.4	14.2	20.7	114.0
13	Philadelphia 76ers*	72	17430	41.2	86.6	.476	11.2	30.0	.374	30.0	56.6	.531	19.5	25.4	.767	10.0	34.9	44.9	23.6	9.1	6.2	14.4	20.1	113.2
14	Indiana Pacers	72	17455	42.2	88.9	.474	12.0	33.1	.364	30.1	55.8	.540	16.0	20.2	.792	8.8	32.8	41.6	26.7	8.3	6.2	13.2	19.7	112.4
17	Washington Wizards*	72	17405	41.2	86.7	.475	9.7	27.7	.351	31.5	59.1	.533	19.2	25.0	.769	9.2	33.9	43.1	24.3	7.0	3.9	13.7	20.6	111.2
18	Miami Heat*	72	17380	40.4	86.2	.468	13.3	37.2	.358	27.0	48.9	.553	17.2	21.7	.790	8.3	34.4	42.7	27.1	8.1	4.1	14.5	19.5	111.2
20	Chicago Bulls	72	17380	42.3	89.0	.476	12.6	34.1	.370	29.7	54.9	.542	13.9	17.5	.791	9.7	35.5	45.1	26.9	6.7	4.2	15.2	19.0	111.1
22	Charlotte Hornets	72	17355	40.4	89.0	.455	13.9	37.5	.369	26.6	51.5	.517	16.1	21.2	.761	10.7	33.6	44.3	27.2	7.9	4.8	15.0	18.3	110.9
23	New York Knicks*	72	17430	40.7	89.3	.456	12.2	31.0	.392	28.6	58.3	.490	17.0	21.6	.784	10.0	36.7	46.6	22.1	7.3	5.2	13.4	21.1	110.6

This year.

Quote

 

2	Atlanta Hawks	53	12720	41.8	89.7	.466	12.8	34.2	.373	29.0	55.6	.523	18.0	22.4	.803	10.0	35.4	45.5	24.8	7.0	4.5	12.6	18.7	114.3
4	Milwaukee Bucks	55	13250	40.9	89.3	.458	14.4	39.5	.364	26.5	49.8	.533	17.0	21.7	.782	10.3	36.7	47.0	23.5	7.8	4.3	13.8	17.9	113.2
5	Chicago Bulls	53	12745	42.2	88.2	.478	11.4	30.5	.372	30.9	57.8	.534	17.5	21.5	.814	9.0	34.6	43.6	24.8	7.4	4.7	13.2	19.0	113.2
6	Miami Heat	54	13085	40.8	88.8	.459	14.0	37.4	.375	26.7	51.4	.520	17.1	21.0	.815	11.2	35.0	46.2	26.8	7.8	3.4	15.4	21.3	112.6
10	Charlotte Hornets	54	13060	41.6	90.7	.459	13.7	37.7	.363	27.9	53.0	.527	15.2	20.7	.736	10.5	33.4	43.9	26.6	8.6	4.9	13.0	19.3	112.1
11	Brooklyn Nets	53	12770	41.8	88.9	.470	11.3	31.9	.354	30.5	57.0	.535	17.1	21.0	.816	10.1	35.1	45.2	25.5	7.1	5.6	14.0	19.9	112.0
12	Toronto Raptors	51	12365	41.4	94.1	.440	12.8	36.1	.355	28.6	58.0	.493	16.2	21.4	.757	13.7	32.8	46.5	23.0	9.5	5.1	13.3	20.5	111.9
14	Philadelphia 76ers	53	12820	41.0	88.1	.466	11.4	32.0	.358	29.6	56.1	.528	18.2	22.4	.809	8.7	34.9	43.6	24.0	7.9	5.9	13.0	19.8	111.7
16	Cleveland Cavaliers	54	12960	41.0	88.4	.464	12.3	35.0	.351	28.8	53.4	.538	16.3	21.7	.751	10.8	36.2	47.0	26.5	7.4	4.5	15.4	17.6	110.6
18	Boston Celtics	55	13400	40.2	89.4	.450	12.6	37.2	.340	27.6	52.2	.528	17.3	21.1	.817	11.0	36.4	47.4	23.8	7.4	6.0	14.5	19.1	110.3

Check out the scoring.  Check out the FG%.  Check out the 3Pt%.

Notice...  Our place hasn't changed much.   We still have the same scoring, FG%, 3pt% as we did last season.   However, note the other teams... Everybody else has moved down offensively. 

 

[macdaddy]

The east wasn't better last year.  That's crazy.   There were twice as many crummy teams last year as this year.  When you have a bunch of easy games on your schedule you rack up wins and post good stats.  East has 12 teams in playoff range. 

[sturt]

Don't think this is debunkable... but you're welcome to try, if it's important to you to do that...

[JeffS17]

23 hours ago, Diesel said:

This is panic talk.  Let's be a little more directly.

The East was better last year. 

Last Year.

This year.

Check out the scoring.  Check out the FG%.  Check out the 3Pt%.

Notice...  Our place hasn't changed much.   We still have the same scoring, FG%, 3pt% as we did last season.   However, note the other teams... Everybody else has moved down offensively. 

 

The East is more competitive this year.  Also has a better winning % this year versus last year.  Starting to see a divergence in the standings right now so we need win a lot of our very winnable games coming up or we'll be left in lotto land.