How will the East playoff seeds shake out in 2023-24? LVBET’s writers weigh in with their picks.
LVBET Lawrance
1. Boston Celtics
2. Milwaukee Bucks
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Miami Heat
5. New York Knicks
6. Philadelphia 76ers
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Toronto Raptors
The Bucks’ reign as preseason favorites due to their acquisition of Damian Lillard lasted about 72 hours until Portland flipped Jrue Holiday over to Milwaukee’s chief rivals in Boston.
The Celtics essentially got Kristaps Porzingis and a Marcus Smart replacement. Cleveland has taken enough baby steps – it’s time for a real stride in the standings as serious contenders. I expect Miami to overachieve (again) and Philadelphia to underachieve.
LVBET Dawg
1. Boston Celtics
2. Milwaukee Bucks
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Philadelphia 76ers
5. New York Knicks
6. Miami Heat
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Chicago Bulls
Boston and Milwaukee enter the season virtually equal as conference favorites. The Bucks gained the edge by adding Damian Lillard, but the Celtics narrowly took it back by getting Jrue Holiday.
Cleveland holds third, followed by Philadelphia — a team nearly impossible to project as so much depends on what happens with James Harden’s future.
New York rounds the top five, followed by Miami, which lost two key members from its Finals squad and missed out on the marquee players on the move: Lillard, Holiday and Bradley Beal.
LVBET John
1. Milwaukee Bucks
2. Boston Celtics
3. Miami Heat
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Philadelphia 76ers
6. New York Knicks
7. Brooklyn Nets
8. Atlanta Hawks
This is a two-team conference, meaning only two have a realistic chance at reaching the NBA Finals and/or winning a championship.
The Bucks and Celtics soar above the rest, for obvious reasons, and I suspect the Damian Lillard-Giannis Antetokounmpo pick-and-roll combo will give teams fits until they figure it out, which could take a while. That said, the Celtics are the deeper of the two and could emerge from the postseason grind as the victor, but that’s not what we’re debating here just yet.
If the East had more quality teams, the Sixers would be in for an even bigger stumble. With or without James Harden, they just seem tapped out. Miami lost out on Lillard but I suspect folks will make the mistake of holding it against them. I don’t see a generous leap by the Knicks or Nets, and as for the Hawks, that Eastern Conference Finals berth in 2021 seems like it happened a decade ago.
