i'm starting to really think the wiz may be the team to beat in the east. they are deep, they have 2 elite slashers, a great vet in pierce, 4 good big men, and the uber-athletic otto porter, who will give other SFs fits. they have high upside on both ends of the court.
not impressed with the bulls, though they could possibly turn it around. gasol, mirotic, and rose are all playing soft, i don't like their defense at all. rose isn't the stud scorer he used to be, either, and i don't see a ton of leadership from him, his body language isn't great.
noah is playing poorly, and generally seems to get exposed during the playoffs, as other teams match his intensity levels.
gibson seems to have lost a step.
IMO butler is going to have to play great for the bulls to go any deeper. and obviously the rest of the team needs to start to gel.
cavs have problems too, losing love for the season, and smith for 2 games should hurt their offense.
but their defense is the real long-term concern, i just don't like their defensive personnel outside of lebron, thompson, and mozgov. sooner or later they'll get exposed, just like last year's heat. the c's missed a ton of 3s in that series, and the c's also had trouble getting calls inside.
other teams will punish cleveland for those defensive mistakes.