Eastern Conference : Central Atlantic

A year ago, the Orlando Magic had never won a playoff game and the Chicago Bulls were on the junk heap of history. Guess what? Things have changed. Even with Shaquille O’Neal out the first two months, it will be an upset if they don’t meet in the conference finals.

Chicago Bulls

1994-95 record: 47-35 (third last season)

Offense: 101.5 (12th last season)

Defense: 96.7 (fifth last season)

Will it work? Yes, at least in the regular season. The real test will be the playoffs. Will Dennis Rodman blow up, as he did after helping the San Antonio Spurs to their league-best 62-20 record last season? It’s a good time to gamble. He’s in the last year of his $2.5-million contract and dying for a bigger one. For all those TV anchors posing the big question, “Is Michael Jordan over the hill?” the answer is, no.

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Indiana Pacers

1994-95 record: 52-30 (first)

Offense: 99.2 (18th)

Defense: 95.5 (fourth)

Coach Larry Brown pulled his usual miracle, taking a team that had never won an NBA playoff series to two Eastern finals, but a Brown club is like a shark, it must keep moving or die. Without reinforcements, to borrow a line from “Annie Hall,” what they would have had here would have been a dead shark. General Manager Donnie Walsh signed Ricky Pierce and Eddie Johnson, the instant offense the Pacers lacked. Of course, Ricky is 36 and played only 27 games. Eddie, 36, played overseas. Brown, 54, has a new son and has just hired his once-estranged brother, Herb, as an assistant coach. Who knows where this might end?

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Charlotte Hornets

1994-95 record: 50-32 (second)

Offense: 100.6 (15th)

Defense: 97.3 (sixth)

If you think things have been stormy, look out. Alonzo Mourning, a free agent-to-be, asked for $12 million a season, horrifying the Hornets so much that they shopped him. Larry Johnson is pouting at the re-acquisition of Kendall Gill, whom he dislikes. Coach Allan Bristow has been dangling for years. They have always been small--the 6-foot-9 Mourning is a glorified power forward, the 6-5 L.J. is a glorified small forward and the 5-3 Muggsy Bogues is off the charts. If they still are anyone’s team of the future, it must be the very near future.

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Detroit Pistons

1994-95 record: 28-54 (seventh)

Offense: 98.2 (tie for 19th)

Defense: 105.5 (22nd)

New Coach Doug Collins is restoring order to the Don Chaney country club. He has dealt for Otis Thorpe, dumped fat Oliver Miller, turned up the heat under soft Terry Mills. Grant Hill will be a Scottie Pippen-style point guard in a three-guard lineup with Joe Dumars and sharpshooter Allan Houston, who averaged 22 points after the All-Star break. If unpolished Theo Ratliff, the 6-10 No. 1 pick from Wyoming, can handle center, the Pistons will make a real move.

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Milwaukee Bucks

1994-95 record: 34-48 (sixth)

Offense: 99.3 (17th)

Defense: 103.7 (18th)

Even after waiting two months for Glenn Robinson to get in shape, they improved by 14 victories. That was fortunate for Mike Dunleavy, the one-time golden boy, who’s getting heat from owner Herb Kohl, the compassionate-at-the-office U.S. Senator. The Bucks are promising but still shallow, with little but Big Dog (28 points a game in his final 15) and Vin Baker (18 points, 10 rebounds, an All-Star selection). They are so weak at center that Dunleavy lamented that last summer’s lockout cost him a chance at 7-foot Euro-slug Stojko Vrankovic.

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Atlanta Hawks

1994-95 record: 42-40 (fifth)

Offense: 95.4 (25th)

Defense: 95.3 (third)

Coach Lenny Wilkens has a great team coming to Atlanta but not until the Olympics. His Hawks are stuck in the middle. General Manager Pete Babcock dumped Dominique Wilkins and Kevin Willis, but his big gamble, the trade for Danny Manning, didn’t turn out as Manning signed with Suns. Mookie Blaylock (17 points, eight assists, 2.5 steals), Steve Smith (18 points a game over his last 11) and Stacey Augmon are fine, but what’s missing? Oh yes, a front line. They’ll have Shaq, Hakeem and Mr. Robinson for two weeks--in the summer of ’96.

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Cleveland Cavaliers

1994-95 record: 43-39 (fourth)

Offense: 90.5 (27th)

Defense: 89.8 (first)

Coach Mike Fratello traded his cushy gig as czar of the telestrator at NBC for this black hole in a case of bad timing or career suicide. He did such a great job last season, they decided to give him even less, dumping Price and Hot Rod Williams. They will shop Brad Daugherty, if he ever returns. Fratello isn’t an expansion kind of coach, his relationship with General Manager Wayne Embry is already strained and Matt Guokas has his telestrator.

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Toronto Raptors

Expansion team

General Manager Isiah Thomas, a kid with a new toy, is learning how to be an executive as he goes, but his controversial No. 1 pick, Damon Stoudamire, looked great in exhibitions--17 points, 7.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds a game. Thomas has shown a fondness for talented head cases--Oliver Miller, Carlos Rogers--and, for the moment, what does he have to lose?

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Orlando Magic

1994-95 record: 57-25 (first)

Offense: 110.9 (first)

Defense: 103.8 (19th)

A funny thing happened on the way to the season: O’Neal got knocked out by Pat Riley’s Haq-a-Shaq defense. This is a problem for a Magic team that is soft defensively and gets away with a three-guard line-up because it has a monster center. Now all it ahs is Jon Koncak. the real race is for homecourt advantage against the Bulls and it could be two tense months before Shaq gets back.

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New York Knicks

1994-95 record: 55-27 (second)

Offense: 98.2 (21st)

Defense: 95.1 (second)

Coach Don Nelson says he wants to run. Patrick Ewing says they aren’t a running team and he misses Riley. Fine, says Nellie, we’ll only run occasionally, suggesting that after the Chris Webber fiasco, he won’t say boo to another star player for the rest of his life. Who is Patrick anymore? Who is Nellie? Where are the Knicks going? The answer to the last is easy: south. The only question is how soon.

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New Jersey Nets

1994-95 record: 30-52 (fifth)

Offense: 98.1 (22nd)

Defense:101.2 (13th)

These miscreants had a surprising exhibition season (5-3) but, of course, Derrick Coleman was out and he’s expected back soon. Kenny Anderson is trying to revive his career and there’s a lot of firepower but no center. General Manager Willis Reed, who traded for Benoit Benjamin (mistake), lost him to Vancouver in an expansion-draft gamble (another mistake), leaving him with nothing but last year’s No. 1, Yinka Dare (bigger mistake). Who’s the bigger problem, Coleman or Reed?

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Washington Bullets

1994-95 record: 21-61 (seventh)

Offense: 100.5 (16th)

Defense: 106.1 (tie for 24th)

Are they a team of the future or are they ticking? Webber led them to a 17-57 record after coming over from the Warriors, got a $58-million contract and went out with another dislocated shoulder. High-strung rookie Rasheed Wallace makes Webber look like Solomon the wise. Mark Price sat out the exhibition season because of the same foot problem that persuaded the Cleveland Cavaliers to dump him. Super-agent David Falk wants Webber money for free-agent-to-be Juwan Howard. Aside from that, they’re a budding powerhouse.

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Miami Heat

1994-95 record: 32-50 (fourth)

Offense: 101.1 (14th)

Defense: 102.8 (16th)

Riley can buy 20% of the team and is expected to turn over 50% of the roster by next season. In the meantime, he will make these schleps play hard for a change. Look for problems between the demanding new coach, career underachiever Billy Owens and noted non-listener Kevin Willis, and for feuds with the Knicks and Magic. Miami can drop $7 million under the cap next summer, but can Riles recruit today’s pampered star?

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Philadelphia 76ers

1994-95 record: 24-58 (sixth)

Offense: 95.4 (25th)

Defense: 100.4 (10th)

The inmates have found asylum. Vern Maxwell at point guard? Richard Dumas? John Lucas, who has said he isn’t sure whether to stay in coaching or go back to rehab work, has combined the two. Luke is pinning the future on rookie Jerry Stackhouse, who responded, averaging 21 points in exhibitions with a broken bone in his left hand. With Shawn Bradley and Clarence Weatherspoon, the dog days are over, but the 76ers have a young and volatile look.

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Boston Celtics

1994-95 record: 35-47 (third)

Offense: 102.8 (11th)

Defense: 104.7 (20th)

M.L. Carr, overmatched as a general manager, is now coach too, giving owner Paul Gaston the early lead for the bad-executive award. M.L.’s philosophy seems to be, give lots of money to anyone who might sign with us. Last season: Dominique Wilkins (now in Greece). This season: Dana Barros, who got a $22-million contract, meaning that fellow smurf Sherman Douglas, who averaged 20 points and nine assists after the All-Star break, has to go.