BEAST OF THE EAST???

Ummmmmmm! I am trying to care about the Eastern Conference, but it is very difficult when the best two teams are having trouble in the 1st round putting away teams whose regular season record was under .500.

The Celtics should not have lost a game in the first two rounds of the playoffs. It is as simple as that. I would have understood if they had lost one game in the 2nd round, but it is inexcusable that the Celtics should lose any game to the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks should not even be within 10 points of the Celtics at any point in the series. So, it was a bit disturbing to watch KG look like he was going to murder the entire Boston roster because they were playing like garbage. Hopefully this will be a wake up call to the Celtics since they are the only team in the East that has a chance in the NBA Finals.

I have made this point many times about the Pistons. When "Wrong Way" Larry Brown walked out of the building so did the Pistons chances of ever winning another NBA Title. When the playoffs started, I thought it was possible the Pistons could come out of the East. After watching them go through the motions against the Philadelphia 76ers, I am wondering if they can even get out of the 1st round. To watch the 76ers hustling, scratching, crawling and doing whatever needs to be done to win, while the Pistons are laughing, joking and being very uninspired as they are being run off the floor was a bit surprising. Flip Saunders is looking like Isiah Thomas on the bench. It makes you wonder if their window has closed.

Hopefully, both of these teams will correct themselves going forward because, if not, when either one of them gets to the Finals, they will get destroyed.