The eve of March Madness makes it hard to think about anything else but college hoops. And for good reason too, as the NCAA Men’s Division I tournament will forever remain one of the best sporting events each year. Even if your thoughts linger a bit towards the pros, you likely end up completely infatuated with the amazing playoff race in the Western Conference, where ten of the fifteen winning teams in the league reside. Pundits might deservedly cast the East as least, but that does not mean you cannot find intriguing games to find some action on. So with one month to go in the regular season, this feels like a good time to take stock of how things are shaping up in the Eastern Conference.

The story of the East has been written in large part by the big green machine. The big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett have delivered more than initially advertised. The Boston Celtics head into the second weekend of March with a 51-12 record, which translates into an insane .810 winning percentage. They have run up an incredible plus 10.7 point differential on their opponents. To date the Celtics have lost only four times on their home court. Their priority now should be gearing up and staying healthy throughout what hopes to be a deep playoff run. The additions of wily veterans, Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown bring added stability and swagger to the supporting cast.

Ray Allen left the game against Utah on March 14, 2008 with what was described as a jammed left ankle. “Jesus Shuttlesworth” has been saddled with injuries before, and no doubt the Celtics’ brass will choose a conservative path to ensure his availability for the playoffs. With a 5.5 game cushion on the next best team in the conference, there is no need to rush him back. Kevin Garnett has rebounded nicely this month, averaging 21.3 points and 9.3 rebounds a game. Paul Pierce has kept up his steady play all year; pencil him in for 20 points, five rebounds and five assists every game. Either of those two can step in on any given night to fill the scoring void should Allen be out a while.

Boston plays the fourth and fifth games of their west-coast road trip. They started off against the Milwaukee Bucks, and then faced a tough back-to-back against San Antonio and Houston. Houston was pushing for their twenty first win in a row and counting as of this writing. On March 20th, the Celtics play the Dallas Mavericks in a marquee match-up. Surely Mark Cuban did not envision his squad as a seventh seed when he mortgaged the future for the services of Jason Kidd. Yet with the Rockets, Spurs and New Orleans Hornets all having stellar seasons of their own, Dallas will be in tough to win home court advantage at any point in the playoffs. Kidd averaged 9.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 10 assists in his first dozen games for the Mavs. The team went 7-5 in that span. A win against the top dog in the East would make a strong statement.

Two nights later the Celtics travel to New Orleans. Chris Paul has his team neck in neck with the three other powerhouses in their division. The Hornets have been solid at home (23-10 record). Boston owns an impressive 20-3 record against the West to date, so something will have to give here. The Celtics then play the Philadelphia 76ers on March 24th, before hosting the Phoenix Suns on March 26th. The Suns game will be billed as a potential Finals match-up.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons have a ten game cushion for the Central Division lead and are a lock to finish second in the conference. Currently they sport a 46-18 record, which would be good enough to lead the Western Conference. Both Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton have been logging significantly less minutes than previous seasons, and this surely means the Pistons are trying to stay fresh for the playoffs. The Pistons lost in Boston on March 5th by a score of 90-78. Barring an upset, these two teams will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Pistons visit LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 19th. They then have three days to rest up before a busy stretch of four games in five nights. Their first back-to-back features a road game against the Washington Wizards on March 23rd and then they head home to play the Phoenix Suns. The schedule makers might have a grudge against the men from Motown; they finish the month with three sets of back-to-back games, and they all involve travel in between games. After playing Phoenix they trek north of the border to play the Toronto Raptors, and then have to clear customs right away to host the Miami Heat on March 27th. Miami seems intent on finishing the year with the worst record i.e. the most ping pong balls for the draft lottery.

Some have waited for the other shoe to drop on the Orlando Magic, but they have managed to parlay their fast start into an easy victory lap towards the Southeast Division title. The Magic have held serve better on their home court. They play a trio of teams fighting for playoff berths. First up are the Washington Wizards on March 19th. Two days later the Philadelphia 76ers roll into town, and then the team travels to Atlanta to take on the Hawks. The big game of the week for them will be hosting the Spurs on March 25th.

Dwight Howard leads the league in rebounds. In Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, the Magic have two six-foot-ten forwards who can either take their man off the dribble or step out and drain a three-point shot. The strength of the team lies in their frontcourt, but it may be their guards that determine how deep the Magic go in the playoffs.

The top three in the conference have been set in stone for months. The battle for fourth place and home court advantage has involved the Cleveland Cavaliers jockeying for position with the Toronto Raptors. While the Raptors are tripping over themselves this month, the Cavs have been unable to take advantage. Back-to-back losses against New Jersey and Washington may prove costly at the end of the season. A few weeks ago, both the Cavs and Toronto were closing in on the Magic for third place. Now the Magic have a five game edge on LeBron and his new gang. Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic have returned from injury. Delonte West has assumed starting point guard duties and has played pretty well. Unfortunately Zydrunas Ilgauskas will be out for at least another week with a strained back and Eric Snow will miss 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. Daniel Gibson remains out with a left ankle injury. The injury bug has bitten early and often in Cleveland this year.

As long as LeBron can suit up for the game, the Cavs have at least a puncher’s chance every night out. They get to go head-to-head against some good teams this week. The aforementioned date in Detroit on March 19th oozes of previous playoff battles. The Cavs took Detroit to seven games two years ago, and then beat them in the conference finals last season. The Cavs host the Raptors on March 21st with the winner essentially earning a two game swing in the standings. The very next night, the Cavs get a chance to play spoilers by beating the Milwaukee Bucks and killing their last gasp at a playoff berth. Finally on March 26th, the Hornets roll into town. LeBron James and Chris Paul became friends while playing for Team USA; the future of basketball is in good hands with the two of them leading the NBA into the next decade.

The only statement the Toronto Raptors have made lately is in the courtroom. They have filed a claim against the Spanish Basketball Federation because of nonpayment of insurance for an injury to Jorge Garbajosa. Garbajosa started at forward for the team last year and had surgery in December. He played sparingly in seven games this year.

The Raptors lost six of their first eight games in March. The team sorely misses their all-star forward/center, Chris Bosh. Bosh injured his knee in a game against Indiana on February 29th. Their play has become inconsistent and their shooting is spotty. Predictably, they lost against the Lakers, Warriors and Nuggets. Quite conceivably by this printing they will have lost every game of their road trip. There is still no word on when Bosh will return to the court.

In Bosh’s absence, the team will have to rely on their point guard tandem of Jose Calderon and T. J. Ford. Ford has led the team in scoring a couple of times this month, but his dominating the ball has left the team a bit out of sync. At their best, the point guards on the team penetrate, leaving open looks for their shooters while Bosh demands double teams down low. Without Bosh the rest of the team has had to try and do more and the results have been underwhelming. Rasho Nesterovic has been a bright spot but he is not one that can turn the tide.

Looking forward, the only good chance at a win for the Raps in the next week is a home date against the Miami Heat on March 19th. At this point the Raps will be a decided underdog to the Cavs for their March 21st game. The Denver Nuggets ran up 79 points on the Raps in the first half on March 14th, a game where the Raps were completely dominated by Denver. The Nuggets have a better record than the Raptors and will present as tough opponents in Toronto on March 23rd. The schedule does not get any easier with Detroit coming the town on March 26th. With or without Bosh, the Raptors seem headed for a sub .500 record when their March schedule wraps up.

Caron Butler returned to action on his birthday, and his Washington Wizards survived to post a 101-99 win against Cleveland on March 14th. Butler had missed 16 games. The team still awaits the return of Gilbert Arenas. To their credit, they have played well enough to stay at the .500 mark and will likely enter the playoffs as the sixth seed, though with the Raptors dropping off, they now have a chance to move up. The main goal for both the Wizards and the Raptors will be avoiding a finish of seventh or eighth. Playoff series against either Boston or Detroit will end decisively and quickly.

Washington plays seven of their next eight games on the road. They were set to battle Orlando for the division lead but with Arenas missing most of the year, Orlando has stepped up and set a pace too fast for the Wizards to keep up. In a potential first round preview, their March 19th game deserves the spotlight before March Madness starts up. Their March 21st game against Miami should be an easy win as the Heat have added Shawn Marion to their growing injury list. Their only home date for the rest of the month is against the Detroit Pistons on March 23rd. The Magic then head westward with back-to-back games in the Northwest; they play the Portland Trail Blazers on March 25th and the Seattle SuperSonics on March 26th. As an aside, Greg Oden participated in his first practice with the Blazers.

The Philadelphia 76ers have surprised many this year. Their 31-34 record is not something to brag too much about, but it is good enough for seventh place and a 4.5 game cushion on the number nine team. Despite ranking in the bottom ten in the league for both offense and defense, the Sixers only lost one of their first seven games this month (they lost to Boston, nothing to be ashamed of), and have a winning record at home. They scored some impressive wins against Phoenix and Detroit this month. Andre Iguodala leads the team with a 19.6 points per game average. Thaddeus Young, a rookie out of Georgia Tech has earned more playing time and is now in and out of the starting lineup. The team was rumored to be looking to trade Andre Miller earlier this year; now they look to secure a playoff spot with him running the point.

The Sixers enter a busy stretch where they play five games in eight days, and each opponent is either a playoff-caliber team, or like them a team fighting for a spot. They host Denver on March 19th before visiting Orlando on March 21st. A win against the New Jersey Nets the following night will be a must. They then play the Celtics for the second time this month; Boston beat the Sixers in Philly on March 10th. They then have another playoff-type game against the Chicago Bulls on March 26th.

The next five teams in the standings are within 2.5 games of each other. Only one of these teams will make the playoffs. The reward will be a likely sweep at the hands of the Celtics. Still a couple of playoff dates would represent a boon for a couple of these teams. This race for mediocre superiority or superior mediocrity as it were, pales in comparison to the playoff race in the Western Conference. However, at least it means that there will be plenty of meaningful games in the East down the stretch.

Jason Kidd left the eighth place Nets to join the seventh place Mavs. The Nets have been buoyed by the play of Marcus Williams and Devin Harris, who now together fill the void left by Kidd. The Nets are certainly trying their best to give their playoff spot away, yet a 3-7 record over their last ten games is not enough to push them to the outside. Vince Carter’s lackadaisical play represents their year in a microcosm. The stat-lines might not look too bad, but ultimately the results are underwhelming and heading downhill. The one thing the Nets can hang their hat on lies in the fact that they can control their own destiny. They play Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Indiana twice to close out the month. Over the long term, this team has limited upside. Perhaps Brooklyn will bring greener pastures.

The underachieving team of the year award goes to the Chicago Bulls. Some “experts” picked the Bulls to represent the East in the Final this year. Both Luol Deng and Ben Gordon turned down big fat contract extensions, only to spend the year proving maybe they do not deserve that type of money after all. The team reloaded by shipping out a deteriorating Ben Wallace and bringing in Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes in a trade with Cleveland. The Bulls have a home stand that lasts four games. The Spurs will be tough to beat on March 20th, but the team matches up quite well against Indiana (on March 22nd) and Atlanta (on March 25th). Lost all year, it would be a minor miracle if the Bulls make the playoffs.

The Atlanta Hawks have gone on a losing slide themselves. They addressed their point guard problem by trading for Mike Bibby, but their record has not reflected the upgrade at that position. Their weakness is an inability to win on the road, where they have an ugly 7-25 record. The teams get a chance to win in spite of these trends with important games against the Nets, the Magic and the Bulls; all these games were commented on already. They finish the week returning home to play the Milwaukee Bucks on March 26th.

The Indiana Pacers do not deserve to be within 1.5 games of the playoffs this late in the season, but in this “Bizarro” conference, a .391 winning percentage can have the team thinking playoffs rather than the draft. Jermaine O’Neal could be done for the season, and Jamaal Tinsley is also out indefinitely. The new leaders of the team are Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy; both have averaged more than 18 points a game this season. By in large, the Pacers have a favorable schedule and have a decent chance to gain some ground and climb up in the standings. Their week includes home dates against Charlotte (March 19th), Minnesota (March 21st), and New Orleans (March 25th), and away games against the Bulls and the Nets. Out of all their remaining opponents this month, only the Hornets have a winning record. These plucky Pacers are a good sleeper team to consider.

Finally, Michael Jordan traded for Jason Richardson in an attempt to make a splash now. Well, they sit fourth in their division and 12th in the conference, but they have a chance. Gerald Wallace has sustained four concussions while playing power forward with his small forward frame (6-foot-seven, 215 pounds). The Bobcats were streaky without him; they lost five straight games at the end of February and then went on a five game winning streak. Losses to Dallas and Houston have them swinging the other way again. All but two of their remaining games this month are on the road. With a west coast swing still in the cards, the Bobcats will be hitting the lottery once again. At least they became a part of history when they became the 21st notch on the Houston Rockets’ belt during their very impressive win streak.

Compared to the shootout going on out west, the Eastern Conference battle might come off as a water gun fight. The good news for the eventual winner is they only have to play one of the best teams from the West in the playoffs.