Climbing Up the Bad East

The Bulls' offense clicked at just the right time Thursday, leading by as much as 19 in the second half before beating the Boston Celtics 94-82.  Leading the six players who scored in double figures was Joakim Noah, who finished one assist shy of a triple-double, but still impressed with a line of 17/11/9.  Mike Dunleavy also led the charge during the half in every fashion.  His 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks don't seem eye-opening, but he seemingly did it all at the same time, which put the game out of reach well before the final minutes.

Coupled with Charlotte's loss to Portland, the Bulls jumped from ninth to seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, making their first appearance in the top eight in weeks.  While that seems cool and all, consider what it looks like:

                 W  L    PCT  GB

Chicago7	13	18	.419	12.0
Charlotte8	14	20	.412	12.5
Boston	13	19	.406	12.5

Long story short, it's just as bad as it looks.  It sums up the entire East and how it is producing no true championship contenders outside of Miami and Indiana.  However, the conference has to send eight teams to the playoffs.  The bottom teams could be the same number of games below .500 in mid-April and it won't matter.  They'll be destined for the postseason and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

For the sake of last night's game, let's examine the opponent.  How in God's name are the Celtics in the playoff picture?  It certainly doesn't help that they're only behind the 15-15 Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic.  But look what they have.  Brad Stevens is fresh off his time at Butler, Rajon Rondo is out with a torn ACL and anyone else who made that team worth watching in the past six years is gone.  Granted, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were already starting to decline before heading to Brooklyn, but they've decided to showcase what little they have left there instead.

As a final insult, I played this game on my new copy of NBA 2K14 and beforehand, learned the Celtics' highest-rated active player in the game is Jeff Green.  What?  Jeff Green?  Yes, he's their leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, but does that sound like a team even worthy to get beat up by the Heat or Pacers in the first round?  No way.  Yet because of the disgrace that is the Wastern Conference, they have a chance to do just that.  That's brutal.

When I hear people say they can't watch the NBA this year because of all the bad basketball being played, I can't say I blame them.  I only watch because I remain true to my team, but they're right on the money.  Many marquee stars are hurt, teams are underachieving and as a result, we get what we're seeing right now.  The league was an exciting product for the past few years, but now, the casual fan is turning away in favor of watching future league stars named Parker and Wiggins.  Those of us who continue to watch invite you to join us, but we won't hold it against you if you think otherwise.

A team somewhat worth watching, the Atlanta Hawks, will play the Bulls Saturday at the United Center.  That team currently sits third in the East with an amusing record of 18-14.  Of course, with leading scorer Al Horford out for the season with a shoulder injury, they might fall from that position soon.  Of course, they still have Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague, so there still might be some quality basketball.  You just have to find out yourself.