Nine teams Eastern Conference teams were invited to Disney World and six teams have already officially qualified for the playoffs. It is only the Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards that have to battle for a spot.
While there might not be as much room for movement compared to the Western Conference, there is still plenty of drama to come in the East's seeding games.
Is there any chance the Nets miss the playoffs?
There is a six-game difference between current seventh seeds Brooklyn and ninth-placed Washington. Making up that deficit would be nearly impossible for most teams, but the Nets have been gutted by injuries and looked particularly vulnerable during their (admittedly meaningless) first scrimmage against the New Orleans Pelicans. Without Zion Williamson, the Pelicans put 99 points on the Nets and held Brooklyn to just 68.
Kevin Durant has been out all season and Kyrie Irving's season is over after he had shoulder surgery. Wilson Chandler opted out of Orlando, DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Dinwiddie tested positive for coronavirus, as did Taurean Prince and Michael Beasley, with Nic Claxton also undergoing shoulder surgery.
The Nets' long list of absentees has led to the NBA return of 40-year-old fan favourite Jamal Crawford alongside rotation players Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, Tyler Johnson, Rodions Kurucs, Caris LeVert, Garrett Temple and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
It is hard to know who will stand out, and head coach Jaque Vaughn is hardly going to know himself, having taken over the role just two games before the league was paused.
The weakened Nets will play the Magic, a team just half a game back in the standings. They will also play the Wizards. Then come the better teams in the conference as the Nets take on the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks and third seed in the East, the Boston Celtics.
They will get an easier outing against the Sacramento Kings, before going up against another top team in the LA Clippers before closing out against the Magic in another potentially playoff-deciding game, and the Portland Trail Blazers, who will be in a similar situation in the Western Conference. It will be tough to stay in the playoff hunt.
One thing in the Nets' favour is that the team that poses a threat to knock them out, the Wizards, also face the Celtics and the Bucks, and another couple of dangerous Eastern Conference teams: the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Washington have a couple of games against weaker opponents, including the Pelicans, the Nets and the Phoenix Suns. But they have no Bradley Beal, no Davis Bertans, no Thomas Bryant, no Gary Payton II and no Garrison Matthews.
That amounts to 66 points per game that they will not have on the court in Orlando. Even with their full line (which produced 115.6 points per game) wasn't good enough to play winning basketball.
It is tough to see the Nets winning many games, but it is even harder to see how the Wizards close the gap.
Will anyone challenge the Bucks?
Regardless of who ultimately claims the eighth seed in the East, the strong likelihood is that team will be unceremoniously destroyed by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
Giannis Antetokounmpo played at an MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year level this season, leading the Bucks to the best record (53-12) in the league. They sit six-and-a-half games clear of the Toronto Raptors, so expect the Bucks to quickly wrap up the No 1 seed. But are they bulletproof in the playoffs?
Beneath the Bucks, a gap of seven games spans the second-seeded Raptors and the sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, so we can expect some movement in this area. Each team in that pack could give the Bucks reasons for concern.
Toronto had a well-balanced team all year, have improved on defense and possess multiple options on offense. Despite this, the Bucks picked up two comfortable wins against the Raptors thanks to superior rebounding. Antetokounmpo managed 15 at home to add to his 19 on the road, which meant his team had a nine- and 10-rebound advantage on the boards in their games against Toronto respectively.
The size of Brook and Robin Lopez helped Milwaukee, as did the length of Khris Middleton and Thanasis Antetokounmpo. While the heart of the Raptors can't be ignored, they regularly run out multiple small guard line-ups with Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet. When Serge Ibaka plays at the center position he can be undersized. Head coach Nick Nurse should have Marc Gasol available to help, but if he can't make his big presence felt, the Bucks should handle business again.
The Celtics played the Bucks to an even split. In the first outing in Boston, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward scored above 21 points each, Kemba Walker managed 32 and Marcus Smart had 19. It was a good all-round win. But a few weeks later in Milwaukee, Walker went off for 40 points while some of the others struggled. Hayward shot just 10 per cent from the field and scored seven points while Smart managed 24, but nobody else scored more than 17.
Milwaukee made one player, Walker, try to beat them, and the rest were kept to tough three-point attempts, which they missed. The Celtics will have to avoid being dragged into hero ball, but they have the talent to close the gap on Milwaukee.
The Miami Heat present a challenge to the Bucks, primarily because they have the closest thing to a 'Giannis-stopper' that the league can find: Bam Adebayo. The center has great length, quick feet and strong defensive instincts that make him perfect for a team packed with good defenders and excellent coaching.
While Antetokounmpo did whatever he wanted in their first meeting of the season, the Heat had more time to scout the Bucks by the time they faced off in March. The combination of Adebayo's great individual defense and a good game plan held the 'Greek Freak' to his worst performance of the season.
The Heat also have Jimmy Butler and now Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala and other switchable, lengthy wings and bigs that can at least try to keep up with Antetokounmpo, the best player in the game, and make it difficult for his team to win. Milwaukee lost both of their games against Miami.
The Bucks have lost one of the four games they played against the Indiana Pacers, the only one in which Victor Oladipo played. The elite guard has managed just 13 games this season, but he started in both of the Pacers' pre-restart scrimmages so far, even if his production was limited in 19 minutes. Despite Oladipo's return, the Bucks shouldn't have much of an issue against the Pacers.
Tied with Indiana, the Philadelphia 76ers have the biggest upside out of all the teams mentioned. Many considered them to be a Finals threat at the start of the season, but they closed play with a disappointing 39-26 record. While they boast a 29-2 home record, they won just 10 of their 34 road games before the season was halted in March.
The Sixers managed to pick up one win out of three games played against the Bucks, in which Joel Embiid had a 31-point outing on their home floor. With Embiid engaged and playing in front of their own fans, they were basically unstoppable. It was on the road everything fell apart.
This makes Philadelphia's time in Orlando so intriguing. It is neither a home or away situation, so it's difficult to predict how comfortable they will be. Every game is important at this stage, meaning the Sixers should be focused and ready to make a playoff push.
On defense, Embiid, Ben Simmons and Al Horford are excellent, long, intelligent defenders that could make Antetokounmpo's like difficult in a best-of-seven-games series. But while defense wins championships, coach Brett Brown will need to win enough games using a new offense he has been toying with: running Simmons at power forward. If a frontcourt of Simmons and and Embiid clicks, the Sixers are still a threat to upset the Bucks' plans to reach the Finals.