Best & Worst in East — at halfway point

Last week in this space we looked at the bests and worsts from the first-half of the NBA season in the Western Conference. There have been a lot of bests in the West, so far.

The Eastern Conference?

Let's just say it hasn't been pretty. The best team in the East, in fact, would have the seventh — seventh — best record in the West. There's an entire division that had every single team finish the first half under .500.

Still, one half of the NBA finalists will come from the East — no matter how unfair that is — so here's a look at what's happened in that conference so far:

Most surprising team — The Toronto Raptors

The Raptors were 27-55 last season and one of the worst teams in the NBA. They made major changes to their roster in the offseason and nobody expected them to be battling for a division title. Don't look now, but the Raptors are neck-and-neck with the New Jersey Nets for the Atlantic Division lead.

Sure, it's the worst division in basketball. Still, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Raptors have been better than expected.

Runner-up: The Washington Wizards.

Most disappointing team — The Miami Heat

Granted, the defending NBA champs have had injury issues — including to the coach — but there is no reason they should be sub-.500 at midseason. There's no doubt that with Shaquille O'Neal back in the lineup the Heat will be better. And no opponents want to face the battle-tested Heat in the playoffs. Still, Miami's lackluster first half was a joke.

Runner-up: New Jersey Nets.

Best team — The Detroit Pistons

Detroit lost Ben Wallace to free agency and isn't playing to the level it set for itself in the previous few seasons. That said, this is the best team the East has to offer right now. The addition of Chris Webber will help come playoff time, too.

That means, of course, that the Pistons are the seventh or eighth best team in the NBA.

Runner up: Washington Wizards.

Worst team — The Boston Celtics

A simple question: does Danny Ainge have a master plan that the rest of us can't see? The NBA's most storied franchise has fallen on hard times. Both Ainge and coach Doc Rivers are on the hotseat. Really, though, there is no reason this team should be this bad.