A few observations from the standings. Bulls finished 9-1 in their last 10 with a 9 game winning streak and best record in the NBA. 62 wins would have been best in the NBA last season, too. Indiana went 37-45 and made the playoffs. They lost their last 2 and went 5-5 their last 10. We should sweep them if we keep playing all 48 minutes. Boston went 5-5 their last 10. Can they turn it on in the playoffs like last year? Miami went 8-2 their last 10 and finished with a 4 game win streak. Their 28-13 road record is best in the NBA (tied with Dallas). New York finished at 42-40 and won 7 of their last 10. San Antonio went 4-6 their last 10 and lost 2 in a row. Their 36-5 home record is tied with the Bulls for best in the NBA. The Lakers coasted into the playoffs 4 games behind San Antonio (tied with Dallas at 57-25). They were 17-1 at one point since the ASB, but finished 5-5 their last 10. OKC, Denver, and the Knicks all went 7-3 their last 10, which may boost their confidence in the playoffs. The Bulls were once at .500 as a road team, and finished with the 4th best road record at 26-15. The Bulls have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. That changes if they lose a game at home. It seems to me that if some team does beat us at home, we have a pretty good chance of taking one back on the road. The obvious 2 big threats in the East are Boston and Miami. I'm not so scared of Boston, but Miami is going to be tough to beat for anyone. They have the best road record in the NBA, which may be a sign they could take one from us in Chicago. I am hoping for a Bulls-Lakers finals.
The bolded statement is one of the many amazing things about this season. They were like 12-12 on the road at one time....and we we're saying, hey, they've got to improve to be considered elite...and they said, "yes, sir!"
I'm leaning toward picking OKC as the team that comes out of the West. They seem to me to be younger, healthier, hungrier and better built for the playoffs than any other team in the Conference. I'm still hoping for a Bulls-Lakers finals, emphasis on the Bulls, but an Bulls-OKC matchup would be an interesting changing of the guard.
