Updated Eastern Conference Standings Heading Into The Second Part Of The Season

The NBA All-Star Break comes to an end this Thursday

The NBA All-Star Break comes to an end on Thursday and games around the NBA are going to resume. Once the All-Star Break is over, the playoff push around the league is going to hit another gear. 

For the Atlanta Hawks, they are going to be in an uphill battle to move up the standings. Atlanta is currently in 10th place and they are two games behind the Bulls (Chicago owns the tiebreaker), six games behind the Magic for 8th, six back from Miami for 7th, and 6.5 back from Indiana for 6th. It does not seem that the Hawks have a path to have a lot of upward mobility. They only have one game remaining against Miami, Orlando, and Indiana and they have already lost the tiebreaker to the Pacers. 

Boston is the runaway favorite in the East and they have a six-game lead for the top seed. As long as they stay healthy and don't get complacent, the Celtics should finish in 1st. 

The battle for No. 2 is going to be one of the defining playoff races in the NBA. The Cavaliers currently occupy that spot due to their unbelievable play as of late, but they are only 2.5 games ahead of Milwaukee. The Bucks might be the most interesting team in the East during the second half of the season. They have the talent to win the title but have yet to play consistently. 

The Knicks loaded up at the trade deadline in the hope of making a run to the conference finals or even further. They are 1.5 games behind Milwaukee for 3rd and four behind the Cavs for 2nd. 

The 76ers are hoping to get Joel Embiid back for the playoffs, but they will be occupied with staying out of the play-in tournament until then. They are in 5th place but are only ahead of the 7th-place Heat and 8th-place Magic by 2.5 games. 

The Pacers are also hoping to cling to their top-six spot. They are only a half-game ahead of both the Heat and the Magic. 

The Nets just fired their head coach and are 2.5 games behind the Hawks for 10th. They are the only really threat to Atlanta for the last play-in spot. 

Toronto, Charlotte, Washington, and Detroit make up the bottom of the Eastern Conference. 

Eastern Conference Standings (2/20)

1. Boston Celtics (43-12)

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (36-17)

3. Milwaukee Bucks (35-21)

4. New York Knicks (33-22)

5. Philadelphia 76ers (32-22)

6. Indiana Pacers (31-25)

7. Miami Heat (30-25)

8. Orlando Magic (30-25)

9. Chicago Bulls (26-29)

10. Atlanta Hawks (24-31)

11. Brooklyn Nets (21-33)

12. Toronto Raptors (19-36)

13. Charlotte Hornets (13-41)

14. Washington Wizards (9-45)

15. Detroit Pistons (8-46)

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