End-of-Regular-Season Predictions for the NBA 2010-11

East
1. Miami
2. Orlando
3. Boston
4. Chicago
5. Atlanta
6. Milwaukee
7. Philadelphia*
8. Cleveland**

West
1. LA Lakers
2. Dallas
3. Oklahoma City
4. San Antonio
5. Portland
6. Denver***
7. LA Clippers****
8. Phoenix

*I expect the Sixers to do much better this year with the addition of defensive-minded coach, Doug Collins. With a young core of Holiday, Turner, Iguodala, Young, Williams, and Speights, this team will run a lot.

**Cleveland is a bit of a wildcard. I have no idea if they will survive the loss of LeBron James, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt with the eighth seed in the East.

***Denver is another wildcard. I expect Carmelo Anthony to be traded by the deadline, which could potentially mean that the Nuggets will be missing the postseason entirely. However, they have a lot of talent left even without Melo, and a sixth seed is conceivable.

****With Blake Griffin healthy, I think the Clippers will have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs. With that said, the seventh seed is generous.

I predict that Charlotte will drop out of favor in the East, and that Utah (heavily affected by free agent losses during the offseason) will fail to make the playoffs in the West.