The NBA Playoffs standings are nearly set as the season comes to a close and in the east the Indiana Pacers have clinched the number one seed and home court advantage over the Miami Heat, while the San Antonio Spurs are the top overall seed in the west over the Oklahoma City Thunder, LA Clippers and Houston Rockets.
The Pacers clinched the number one spot earlier in the week after the Heat gave LeBron James and Chris Bosh rest against the Washington Wizards and now if the two teams meet, the majority of those games will be in Indiana. Last season the two teams played a seven game series and that gave Miami the home court advantage and now if they meet again the tables will be turned and last year the Pacers felt they would have won the series had they had those games in Indy.
Many see the east as a two horse race between the Pacers and the Heat, as many writers and people around the NBA see those as the only teams that can win a championship from the conference. Miami has now won the east in three straight seasons and Indiana is the only team that has even come close to knocking them off. The Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors also made the playoffs in the east, but no one seriously sees them as legit contenders this season.
The Bulls would be if they had Derrick Rose, but he is out once again, while the Nets could be a pick for some after winning all four games and sweeping Miami during the regular season, but everyone realizes that the postseason is a very different animal. The Spurs took the number one seed in the west again on the strength of their late season winning streak and they are ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference standings. The Memphis Grizzlies took the number eight seed and they now are into the playoffs after the Phoenix Suns made a surprising run this year in the west
