A: I've always viewed playoff races in tiers. I have Cleveland and Chicago in a top tier in the East. The Cavaliers have too much talent not to eventually rise to the top, and Chicago's Tom Thibodeau seems to value the regular season more than any other coach of a contender. I think have the Raptors and Wizards as the next two, with Toronto perhaps overachieving at the moment but still with plenty of depth, and with the Wizards' inside-outside game with Marcin Gortat/Nene and John Wall so formidable. So I would slot the Heat into the next group, with a puncher's chance in a first-round series as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, if they can beat out Atlanta and perhaps Milwaukee or Brooklyn for such placement. Right now, I'm just not sure the Heat are up to challenges against the elite of the East, let alone what the Rockets, Warriors and Clippers have done to them when they've played the West.