Might We Have an Eastern Race Too?

Don't look now (really! don't! that's how they snare you!), but the Pacers have won four straight, and ladies and germs: We have a hot race for the 8th seed in the East.

Atlanta scored a massive win over Orlando last night, thanks to tremendous output from Joe Johnson (34 points on 20 shots, 7 assists, 3 steals) and solid efforts all around. That put the Hawks at 30-39, which would be 12th place in the West... but is 8th in the East. Awesome!

But those Pacers are only 1-1/2 games back themselves, thanks to a road win at Chicago. The improbably decent pairing of Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Troy Murphy combined for 49 points on 60% shooting, and Larry Hughes shot 2-11. (Fun!)

The Nets are actually tied with Indiana for 9th place, after a loss at Philadelphia. But no one really cares about the Nets, because they have been almost as disappointing as the Bulls (if that's possible). Not to disparage Nets fans (it's not your fault), but seeing the Celtics visit Atlanta or Indianapolis in the first round would be vastly more entertaining than a few more games at the 'Zod. Boo Nets!