And how about from the Western Conference?
Rahming: I can’t wait to see how LeBron James and the Lakers fare against the Heat. Since he was on the Cleveland Cavaliers previously and they always operated under the championship or bust mentality, we rarely saw James try against us. Either he was “resting,” or he’d do just enough for the team to keep the lead before shutting it down for the night. I’m honestly tired of his teams not respecting us. It’ll be nice to see a LeBron James lead team that doesn’t have the Heat marked as a gimmie.
Keaton: The popular answer of course is going be the Lakers. But I think I’d like to watch the Heat play the Utah Jazz. I think the Jazz are pretty evenly matched with us and Donovan Mitchell has the makings of a star.
Gewirtz: The Lakers, in part because of the wild combination of players they have on their roster. Besides just that, the Heat have a lot of young talent like the Lakers, so it should be fun to see these two teams face off against each other.
Ebrahim: Now this is gonna be one heck of a race. I do think the Warriors run away with it because Boogie Cousins, who broke the league, will be back by the new year. But the playoff seeding will be fun. The only team I see really putting up a fight against the Warriors will be the Thunder, who I think can reach as high as No.2, with the Rockets at No.3. No.4-8 will be a photo finish. The Lakers, Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves will be fighting for four spots. And that’s one heck of a treat.
The fall can’t be here soon enough.