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These East scenarios could hurt Bulls

Updated odds to win the 2015 NBA title were released this week by online sportsbook Bovada.

The Bulls and Golden State were co-favorites at 5-1. Those teams in the NBA Finals could be a TV ratings bonanza, but that's beside the point.

Cleveland, stumbling for now, is right behind at 6-1. East leader Atlanta is 16-1, along with Toronto.

Does any of that make sense?

The Bulls can't beat bad teams at home, the Cavs just remade their roster while LeBron James tries to get healthy and the Hawks have beaten nine straight Western Conference opponents - good ones.

On paper, it's easy to see why the Bulls are considered the East favorite. They have one of the deepest lineups in the league, led by likely all-star selections Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler. A couple of past all-stars, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, have taken a step back in the name of team success.

As of Thursday morning, the Bulls were third in the East. That bad habit of losing to bad teams at home has kept them out of first place. Maybe they'll continue to improve, but nothing is certain.

Here are some scenarios that could prevent the Bulls from winning the East:

Hawks are soaring

It was easy to doubt the Hawks early this season, but not now. Consider this fact: The Hawks, Raptors and Wizards all went West a couple weeks ago. While Washington and Toronto each lost three straight, Atlanta just won three straight against Portland, the L.A. Clippers and Memphis.

So far, all the evidence implicates the Hawks as the East favorite.

One thing that's obvious here is longtime San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer has done a terrific job of bringing the Spurs system to Atlanta. The Hawks have a dynamic point guard in Jeff Teague, and a couple of inside threats with Paul Millsap and Al Horford, which opens space for the 3-point shooters.

Remember last year, Horford only played in 29 games because of injury. Now with the group intact, Teague is having his best pro season and Kyle Korver is shooting 51 percent from 3-point range.

Will Toronto challenge the Hawks for top-contender status when DeMar DeRozan returns from a groin injury next week? There's plenty to like about the Raptors' lineup. If a vote were held today, Teague and Toronto's Kyle Lowry might finish tied for Eastern Conference MVP.

Cavs are searching

It figures, once James leaves Miami and returns to Cleveland, he has the first extended injury absence of his NBA career. James turned 30 on Dec. 30 and while he rests knee and back injuries, the Cavaliers made some changes.

Most people figured Dion Waiters wasn't going to work at shooting guard, but the decision to replace him with Mr. Offense, J.R. Smith, will be interesting to watch. Smith admitted upon arriving in Cleveland that his motto is still, "When in doubt, shoot." But if he doesn't climb in the back seat quickly, his stay with the Cavs won't end well.

The other move was acquiring center Timofey Mozgov from Denver to replace Anderson Varejao, who is out for the year with an Achilles tear. Even replacement?

Not quite, although Mozgov is averaging a career-high 7.8 rebounds this season. Mozgov is a big body who might help some, but it will be up to Tristan Thompson to make up for the loss of Varejao.

The biggest problem in Cleveland right now is that the Cavs rank 27th in the league in opponents' field-goal percentage at .469. That number won't win a championship and two of the team's Big Three - Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love - have never been known for defense.

Pistons are accelerating

For now, there's no reason to look beyond the top five in the East of Atlanta, Toronto, Washington, Cleveland and the Bulls as Finals contenders. But the Pistons' seven-game win streak since releasing Josh Smith has been the league's best storyline this week. The 2 most recent wins came at San Antonio and Dallas on back-to-back nights.

Coach Stan Van Gundy knows what he's doing. And this summer he brought in three guys designed to bring some veteran savvy and create competition for playing time. The new guys have been role players, but one of them, shooting guard Jodie Meeks, began the season with an injury and has played in just 13 games.

So the addition of Meeks may have helped as much as the subtraction of Smith. Having Meeks and D.J. Augustin to push Brandon Jennings and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has probably paid off. Then Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond were always a dangerous inside combination.

One last word about Smith: He's a talented player who was out of position at small forward. It's probably unfair to blame everything on Smith, although it was his choice to keep launching 3-pointers while connecting on less than 25 percent.

While the Bulls visit Washington on Friday, Detroit will host Atlanta. The West is still much better, but the East has gotten more interesting this season.

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