The NBA's Eastern Conference is so bad that the Celtics might be good

Jordan Crawford: Surprisingly good point guard

Yesterday I had my second article published on Yahoo Sports, entitled "Boston Celtics: NBA Draft Lottery Favorite or Playoff Contender?"  Here's the 37 second summary:

The Celtics are 6-10, but they are only one game back of the final playoff spot, and also just one game behind the Raptors (6-8) for the division lead.  Boston has played a very tough schedule so far, 16 games in 27 days, with 10 of their first 16 on the road.  It's about to get a lot easier.  Eleven of their next 15 are at home, and 9 of those are against sub-.500 teams.  If they go 7-8 in that span they'll be 13-18 at the end of December, about the time Rajon Rondo should be coming back.

Unless several East teams start playing a lot better, the C's will remain on the cusp of the postseason race into January.  If they're still in the mix after playing nearly 40% of the season without Rondo, you'd have to imagine they'll continue to be once he returns.  So until Danny Ainge decides to start trading away players for future draft picks and expiring contracts (the subject of my first Yahoo Contributor Network article), you can expect Boston to stay in playoff contention for the foreseeable future. Sorry tank fans, I know that's not what you want to hear.

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