NBA: The 8 Eastern Conference Teams Making The Playoffs

8. Brooklyn Nets (42-40)

The Nets had to play extremely well down the stretch last season to make it to the playoffs. They will need it again this season.

Losing Paul Pierce will hurt the Nets. He was a scoring threat for them, and was arguably their best perimeter defender. Deron WIlliams will need to bring his game up in his absence, but people have been waiting for him to do that his entire career and it has not happened.

The return of Brook Lopez is both a blessing and a curse. With Lopez, the Nets’ defense will be more traditional and their offense will use more of the post. Last season, one of the things that helped Brooklyn was that they weren’t predictable on either offense or defense. They will be more predictable this season. They will struggle, but in the end they will finish just ahead of their cross-town rivals, the New York Knicks.

7. Atlanta Hawks (44-38)

The eighth-seeded Hawks almost made history last season when they took the top seeded Indiana Pacers to seven games before bowing down. The Hawks did that without the services of Al Horford.

Horford is back this season and it will make the Hawks a little tougher. Paul Milsap and Kyle Korver played above their talent level, but I do not think that will happen again. They did have a nice pickup in the draft in Adreian Payne, and got Thabo Sefolosha, but that will not be enough for Atlanta to make much noise in the East.

They might get off to a good start, but after awhile the only people who will remember the Hawks might be whatever protesters that may appear at their games.