In the NBA play-offs, better play finally rises in East

It took six months and 82 games but, finally, the Eastern Conference has become interesting.

The Eastern Conference play-offs have provided the bigger shocks so far, such as Jeff Teague, left, and the Atlanta Hawks win over the Indiana Pacers. Steve C Mitchell / EPA

It took six months and 82 games but, finally, the NBA's Eastern Conference has become interesting. That is partly a matter of course: the seven awful teams at the bottom of the East are gone, and the introduction of the best-of-seven knockout series was sure to spice up matters.

Early returns also suggest the East play-offs could prove interesting on their own merits.

On Saturday, the first day of the 2014 play-offs, the Atlanta Hawks produced a stunner with a 101-93 away win over the Indiana Pacers.

Everyone knew the Pacers were scuffling, but not many expected anything quite like that.

If nothing else, Indiana’s decline from the league’s best team, for four months to the dysfunctional mess they are now will make for a good show.

A day later, the Washington Wizards put a mild shock into the Chicago Bulls with a 102-93 away win. The return of Nene to go head-to-head with the always-feisty Joakim Noah puts spark into that series.

Even the Charlotte Bobcats offered some entertainment value, hanging around with the mighty Miami Heat until the fourth quarter. And, of course, the Nets secured an away win of their own against the Raptors to go 1-0 up, putting the East's home teams at 1-3 in Game 1s.

The Western Conference will offer the better basketball, but after a long slog and some unsightly tanking from its worst teams, with the play-offs off and running, the Eastern Conference at least now offers some welcome unpredictability.

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