The major impediment to reaching the NBA final has been removed for 14 other teams now that LeBron James has taken his estimable skills from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the sounds you hear are sighs of relief from a handful more. There is still an awful lot of time between now and the late-May start to the championship series, and it’s impossible to comprehend that more significant changes won’t occur by then, but what unfolds will unfold. Here’s how things shake out today in the Eastern Conference:
The Upper Tier
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