The first half of the NBA season was filled with surprises like the New Orleans Hornets and Portland Trailblazers. There also were some major disappointments like the Miami Heat who are worse then the Northwestern Wildcats basketball programs. Believe me, it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.

The Eastern Conference has featured a few dominate teams but also has a handful of teams fighting it out for the final two spots in the conference.

Top seed in the East: The race for the top spot is between the Celtics and the Pistons. However, it will be the Celtics that will claim the home court advantage through the eastern conference playoffs.

The Pistons may play two more home games then the Celtics, but after sitting out the last few weeks you can expect Kevin Garnett to come back healthy and ready to lead the Celtics on a long winning streak.

The Pistons will not gain the one seed because they’re a few games behind the Celtics and this veteran team will start to wear down as the regular season comes to an end. The Magic will finish third in large part to the Wizards not having Gilbert Arenas for the majority of the season.

Who will land the final two spots in the East: The Atlanta Hawks will land the seventh seed thanks to the much needed help at point guard that guard Mike Bibby will bring to the table. Bibby provides the passing ability that the young Hawks team needs to secure a spot in the playoffs.

As for the eighth seed this may be hard to believe, but the struggling Bulls will grab that final spot in the playoffs. The Bulls are breathing down the necks of the Nets and 76ers.

The Bulls may have struggled up to this point, but have 16 of their final 30 games at home and still have the talent they had from last year.

The four through six seeds in the East will be won by Cleveland, Toronto, and Washington.

Top seed in the West: The New Orleans Hornets may be holding on to that top spot, but their inexperience will cause them to slide a little bit in the standings costing them the one seed. The one seed will be one of the three teams in the West who recently made big trades, which are Phoenix, Dallas and Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns and Lakers both look dominant in the West, but after Wednesday night’s game, the Lakers look to be the team at the top.

The Mavericks can win the number one spot now that they have a great passer in Jason Kidd. In the end Shaq will stay healthy and the Suns will claim the top spot in the West.

Final spot in the West: There are really no other teams fighting to make the playoffs besides the Warriors and Rockets. The Rockets will claim this spot due in large part to their depth and expect Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming to carry the team into the playoffs.

The Blazers are still in the hunt, but it’s starting to become apparent that the young squad is running out of gas.

Enjoy the push for the playoffs and keep an eye on the West because the race in the East is like watching a Chicago Bears game, boring and predictable.

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