The Eastern Conference playoff race is alive
The three games featured six teams with combined records of 200-250, but as the buzzers sounded in New York, Orlando and Atlanta on Wednesday night, with the Knicks, Cavaliers and Bulls defeating the Nets, Magic and Hawks, the Eastern Conference playoff picture was as excitingly muddled as ever.
This isn't the West - there are no borderline 50-win teams playing for survival. Instead, the East features teams who looked capable of 50 losses for the majority of the season trying to sneak into the eighth and final playoff spot, which is somehow still up for grabs.
It's pathetic, it's hilarious and the jokes write themselves, but the hell if it isn't damn well exciting.
With their blowout win over a tired Nets team at Madison Square Garden coupled with another Hawks loss - Atlanta's 21st in their last 28 games - the Knicks pulled into a clear playoff spot (meaning they actually have one of the eight best winning percentages in the East, without ties) for the first time since being 1-1 on November 2.
The Hawks, meanwhile, fell out of a playoff spot for the first time since they were 2-3 on November 7, though they're still tied with the Knicks in the 'Games Behind' category.
Lurking in the background, with their dominant victory in Orlando, the Cavaliers are suddenly within two games of eighth place as they continue a rally they started with a thrilling comeback at The Garden last Sunday. They've also got Kyrie Irving back in the lineup. The Cavs development alone makes the race for eighth mind boggling, as literally less than two weeks ago, they were 26-44, 6.5 games behind eighth place Atlanta, losers of four straight and facing the indefinite absence of Irving.
It gets better for Cleveland. New York has the toughest remaining schedule of any Eastern Conference team with their final six games coming against top-six East playoff teams, and the Hawks may be content with lottery odds instead of two home playoff dates. The Cavs? They'll play five of their final six games against losing teams, including a huge Friday night matchup with Atlanta tomorrow.
In addition, the only winning team remaining on Cleveland's schedule is Brooklyn on the final night of the regular season, when the geriatric Nets may be inclined to rest an aging star or two. In all, Cleveland's final six opponents have a combined win percentage of .386. You've got to figure they've at least got a shot.
Yes, it's a downright shame that one of the Suns, Mavericks or Grizzlies - teams that would be third seeds in the East - are going to miss the playoffs. And no, none of the Knicks, Hawks or Cavs actually deserve to be there. But this is the hand we've been dealt as NBA fans with two weeks remaining in the season, and while the East race is more about futile teams just trying not to trip over their own feet than it is about quality basketball, it's still a race, and it's actually shaping up to be an exciting one.
Three teams are separated by just two games. The 33-43 Knicks have a microscopic upper hand in terms of the actual standings, the 32-42 Hawks probably have the best team of the three when they actually look interested in winning games and the 31-45 Cavs, playing from behind, have the advantage when it comes to remaining schedules.
In 13 days, one of those teams will be playoff bound. So buckle up, because given the teams in question, this could get bumpy.