Get to know your Eastern Conference playoff subplots

Every year's postseason brings with it a series of tasty subplots, some brand new and some echoes of old, to add spice and give context and make every single series its own unique snowflake. With the playoffs beginning this weekend, we wanted to catch you up to date on some of the most relevant storylines--and maybe a couple that aren't terribly pressing, but are fun anyway--bearing on this year's first round matchups. First up: The Eastern Conference.

(1) INDIANA PACERS VS. (8) ATLANTA HAWKS
The NBA TV Series, Pt. II

We've seen this movie before-- if we had a deluxe package and a lot of time on our hands, anyway. The Pacers and Hawks played in the first round of last year's postseason, with the Pacers winning in six, and if you can remember a single thing that happened in that series, congrats on being a true fan of the Hawks or Pacers. Anyway, here we go again this season, and if you're looking for reasons this series is going to be closer or more interesting, good luck: I like Paul Millsap as much as the next guy, but he ain't moving the needle much for watchability, and his presence certainly didn't make the four regular season matchups between these two much more memorable.

'90s Retro

It's not the first time that the Hawks and Pacers have met in consecutive postseasons: They met three straight times in the mid-'90s, with Indy winning in '94 and '95 and Atlanta taking it in '96. Trying to parse memorable moments from those series has been relatively fruitless--even despite the presence of everyone's rival, Reggie Miller--so perhaps these franchises are just cheap oil and dull, dirty dishwater when it comes to mixing in the playoffs.

Ca-Caw?

If you recall, the Hawks have been a frisky first-round out once before in recent history as an eighth seed. In 2008, Atlanta fell into the playoffs in similarly back-door fashion, then shocked the world by giving the first-seeded Celtics a seven-game series that put a real scare into the eventual champs and reintroduced the Hawks to NBA relevance. It's possible Atlanta could be due for an encore, though with Al Horford injured, it'll be up to Kyle, Paul and "Playoff" Jeff Teague to forge their own legacy, as they'll be without any of the players or coaches who made that '08 push.

Sometimes You Kick, Sometimes You Get Kicked

The one truly memorable moment these teams have been involved with in recent years came during a Hawks blowout of Indy this regular season, when Pacers guard Lance Stephenson drove on Paul Millsap, and in a moment either of great frustration or true right-brained inspiration, attempted to jump-kick him out of the way.

If NBA TV doesn't show this clip ad infinitum throughout the playoffs...well, you'll just have to come back here for it, won't you?

Coming Home

Hawks guards Jeff Teague and and Shelvin Mack both have Indiana-based roots, as Teague was born in Indianapolis and Mack went to college (and two NCAA title games) at Butler. It's very possible that this trivia is not interesting enough for even Teague or Mack to have a recollection of it, however.

Shared Players of Note

Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Dan Roundfield, Erick Dampier, and in his playing days, current Wizards coach Randy Wittman.

Remember This Dunk?

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(2) MIAMI HEAT VS. (7) CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
LeBron 61

Despite what Dominique Wilkins might say, there's no asterisk needed next to this 61--LeBron's career-high scoring night actually came this season against one of the league's better defensive ballclubs, with one of its better perimeter defenders in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist getting the primary assignment. It's doubtful LBJ will go above the speed limit with his scoring again these playoffs, but it'll be interesting to see if he can use it to get in MKG's head a little if he has some scoring success early.

Put 'Em on the Board, MMMMMAYYYYYBE!

The Bobcats are looking to eliminate two rather dispiriting 0-fers in their franchise history in one fell swoop here: They've never won a playoff game (getting swept by Orlando in their only postseason appearance thusfar), and they've never beaten Miami (0-15) during the Big Three era. Nobody will celebrate a Gentleman's Sweep this first round quite like they will in Charlotte.

Super Mario vs. CD-R

The last time Heat point guard Mario Chalmers and Bobcats reserve Chris Douglas-Roberts met in the postseason, it was during one of the most famous Finals in NCAA history, and chances are one of them remembers the experience a lot more fondly than the other does. Expect CD-R to tackle Chalmers and put him in some kind of sleeper hold if both are left on the floor for a big possession at the end of the game.

The Specter of MJ

Bobcats majority owner Michael Jordan arguably remains slightly more famous for his playing career, which looms large over the Heat in multiple ways. For one, he's likely the primary competition historically for Heat superstar LeBron James, one of the few guys from the modern NBA he's still got a ways to go before passing in stature. For another, he's one of the primary reasons the Heat never got past the Conference Finals in the '90s, beating them in the playoffs three times in three meetings with Chicago.

The biggest (and most literal) way that Jordan continues to hang over the Heat, though, is that his jersey is retired in their home arena. Seriously.

This will never make even the tiniest bit of sense.

Shared Players of Note

Shaun Livingston, Jason Kapono, Juwan Howard, Steve Smith (inaugural Bobcat!) and Derek Anderson

Remember This Game?

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(3) TORONTO RAPTORS VS. (6) BROOKLYN NETS
The Callout Series

Both of these teams have, in some form, called one another out during the regular season as their opponent of choice in the playoffs. The Raptors did it more directly, when Terrence Ross answered in his Reddit AMA that he'd "want Brooklyn personally" as the Raps' first-round matchup, which earned him a "be careful what tree you bark up" admonition from Nets forward Andray Blatche. The Nets' returned the favor by simply tanking their last two games to drop them to the sixth seed in the East, where they were more likely to get Toronto as an opponent.

The NBA might have wanted Raps-Wizards and Bulls-Nets, but this is clearly the series these two teams wanted. Let's hope they can make it worth our while as well. 

The Vince Bowl

Vincent Lamar will be plenty busy out West with his own first-rounder, but you can't have this much Raptors and this much Nets without conjuring Mr. Carter on at least a handful of occasions. As Score compatriot Blake Murphy pointed out to me, Vince is undoubtedly rooting for the Raps between his two old teams here, for the sake of the franchise finally moving on from the harrowing trade that shipped him to NJ, from which Toronto had yet to truly recover--especially since Vince's Nets beat them in the '07 playoffs.

Soon as they win that first playoff series since '01, all--or at least most--will probably be forgiven, and the team can maybe even get to work on raising VC's No. 15 to the rafters.

KLOE Will Have His Revenge

It's entirely possible that Kyle Lowry hasn't spent as much time or energy smarting from his All-Star snub in favor of Seven-Time All-Star Joe Johnson as the Righteous Basketball Internet has on his behalf, but just in case it has kept him up at night on occasion, he'll get his chance to exorcise those demons against ol' Seven-Time this postseason. Us RBIers are indescribably pumped.

Dwane Casey and the Sundance Kidd

The two head coaches in this series have some shared history of their own, as Raps head honcho Casey was the assistant coach on the 2011 Championship-winning Mavs team for which Nets tie-less sideline-patroler Kidd was the starting point guard. “They’re well-coached,” Casey has said of his bud's team in his first year of coaching. "I know they’ll be well-prepared."

36 : 1

How much does experience matter in the playoffs? We're about to find out.

Shared Players of Note

Besides Vince, obviously Alonzo Morning and the Williamses Eric and Aaron, as well as Kris Humphries, Reggie Evans, Rafer Alston and the immortal Ben Uzoh.

Remember This Game?

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(4) CHICAGO BULLS VS. (5) WASHINGTON WIZARDS
The Specter of MJ, Part II

Can't escape this guy in the East. He'll be occupied with the soon-to-be-Hornets this first round, but as with Vince and Raps/Nets, if you've got this much Bulls and Wizards, it's gonna be hard to escape the Michael Jordan highlights throughout. Maybe we can even get Doug Collins in the building(s) to call a couple of the games? Could Charles Oakley make a cameo? Let's get the whole Chi-town / D.C. gang back together again!

POTUS In Effect

His hometown Bulls vs. his backyard Wizards? If President Obama was ever going to show up at a first-round series, this would be the one. He does risk being booed by the home crowd for his rival allegiances (and also for being the president), but after five years with no playoffs in DC, Barack must be chomping at the bit to catch some meaningful hoops in person. Hopefully they'll let him take the halfcourt shot, if so.

Larry Hughes, We Invoke Thee

You might've heard that it's been a slow 30 years or so for the Wizards in the playoffs: Just one postseason series victory since 1982, to be precise. That single win, though, did happen to be against the Chicago Bulls, back in '05 with Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes, so maybe history is finally back on the Wizards' side on this one. Two series wins in 32 years does sound a lot better than one.

A Rose By Any Other Name

John Wall makes his of whhighly anticipated postseason debut in this series, and the situation is fairly reminiscent of five years ago, when another John Calipari-coached point guard (and No. 1 overall selection) made his playoff premiere against a proven veteran team whose best player was out for the season with knee injuries. That dude would of course be Derrick Rose (against the Celtics), then the young gun, now the injured guy himself at the end of the Bulls' bench. 

That series was a classic to end all first-round classics, though, so if the parallels between that one and this one extend to series quality, this could end up being the anti-Pacers/Hawks in terms of excitement and watchability.

Shared Players of Note (Non-Jordan Entourage)

Of the current squads, the Wizards' Drew Gooden was once a Bull, and the Bulls' Kirk Hinrich was on the Wiz for a hot second. Otherwise, Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Mike James all had tours of duty at both stops, and Washington's Kevin Seraphin was originally drafted by Chicago.

Remember This Fight?