NBA Eastern Conference Breakdown
NBA Season is Back with More Teams Ready to Contend for the Title
Nov 10, 2009
The NBA is two weeks into its 63rd season and one questions remains the same: Can anyone dethrone the Lakers or will Kobe & Co. repeat as the champs in 2009-10?
While football is in mid-season form, basketball marks its return with everyone chasing the Lakers. The "Lake-Show" are the favorites to win the whole thing yet again, but several teams made the necessary moves in hopes of stealing the silverware from the current champs. The odds are with the Lakers to repeat, although there is stiffer competition this season than last year.
Here is a look at the top contenders in the Eastern Conferences and the reasons why they are title contenders (some of them):
Eastern Conference
Orlando Magic - The current Eastern Conference champions look poised to make another run for it, as they return an impressive squad this season. The surprising success of last year will be no more, since all the teams know how good the Magic can be. Hedo Turkoglu decided to leave the Magic and join the Toronto Raptors via free agency and the Magic had to find a backup for the fan-favorite Turk. They managed to pull of a trade with the New Jersey Nets and bring in the ever-exciting and somewhat injury-prone Vince Carter. "Vincanity" bring a different dimension to the Magic and an even better scorer than Turkoglu. Assuming the squad remains healthy, the Magic are going to be a force in the East. Orlando still has to improve on the defense, aside from Dwight Howard, and find a clutch shooter to replace Turkoglu, who had a knack for hitting the "big shot."
Cleveland Cavaliers - The "LeBrons" are back this season following a huge disappointment in last year's conference finals and are hoping to go a couple steps further. The team has not changed much, Anthony Parker came in from Toronto and they brought in one of the best centers of all time in Shaquille O'Neal. The Cavs management brought in Shaq to compete with the big bodies of Orlando and Boston. LeBron has very good squad surrounding him and the addition of Shaq could pay huge dividends. The key to the whole season is going to be Shaq's health and whether the role players can knock down the shots LeBron provides for them. The talent is there for sure but is the will? That remains to be seen.
Boston Celtics - The 2007-08 champions are back this year in hopes of getting back to the Finals after their disappointing season last year. Last season vanished at the same time Kevin Garnett left the court with a knee injury, but this year should be completely different. Garnett is back completely healthy and the management decided to help out the talented, aging squad by bringing in reinforcements - Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels. Wallace and Daniels will add depth to an already deep team and along with the emergence of Rajon Rondo and Glen “Big Baby” Davis should propel the team back to the Finals. If Garnett remains healthy and the new players gel with the rest of the team, the Celtics have the most talent out of the top three in the East.
The best of the rest - While the top three are the clear favorites in the East, there are still a couple teams that might give The Big Three some trouble. Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls should round out the playoff picture in this highly-competitive Eastern Conference. Whether one of these teams can challenge The Big Three will be answered later on as the season progresses.
