Playoff Central

In the NBA, 16 of 30 teams make the playoffs, so it isn't the achievement it is in baseball, where eight of 30 get in.
But it's still worth menitioning that the Central Division has accomplished a rare feat. All five teams are headed to the postseason. The Pistons, Cavaliers, Pacers, Bucks and Bulls are going to be playing next week.
It is the first time since the 1986 Midwest Division that every team has made it to the postseason. That was a six-team division.
It means the Central is a quailty division stacked with competitive teams. But it would be a stretch to call the Central the league's best top-to-bottom division. That title probably still goes to the Southwest Division, where the Spurs, Mavericks and Grizzlies reside.
Below are some pre-playoff capsules for the Central. The current conference seed is in parenthesis.

Detroit Pistons (1)
Out of the five teams in the Central, only the Pistons are a legitimate title contender. Detroit should reach the conference finals without breaking a sweat, and I can't see Miami or New Jersey getting the better of them over seven games. Punch their ticket for the NBA Finals.

Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
The Cavs are a solid candidate to win a first-round series ... if they don't draw the Wizards, who currently hold the five-seed. But a team getting their first taste of the playoffs in eight years in an unknown quantity. They could take care of business and advance, or could succumb to first-date nerves and gag against lesser competition.

Indiana Pacers (6)
The Pacers are playoff-decorated and finally have the Ron Artest fiasco behind them. With Artest traded, however, they lose a lot of their toughness. The Pacers would be far better-served drawing the finesse Cavs or Nets in the first round, rather than the brutish Pistons or Shaq and the Heat.

Milwaukee Bucks (7)
The Bucks are a surprise team. Bad enough to win the first overall pick in last year's draft lottery, they used that pick to draft Andrew Bogut, who has helped Michael Redd and Co. back to respectability. They could extend the Cavs or Nets to six games, but would be drop-kicked into Lake Michigan by the Pistons or Heat.

Chicago Bulls (8)
After overachieving to a fourth seed last year, the plucky Bulls have probably found their level this year. An ideal first-round opponent would be the Cavs, the only team the Bulls can trump with regard to playoff experience. Though they swept four games from Chicago this season, the Cavs have a nasty habit of slacking against what they perceive as lesser opponents. Cleveland is probably the only potential first-round foe Chicago would have a prayer of upsetting.