Which teams are still not in the top 8 of their conference that you expect to be there? In the East, we have the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat while Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers made it already. Or is the Chicago Bulls line-up not worthy of a playoff spot?
The west is too crowded with good teams. Probably only 3 to 4 teams do not have the potential of landing in the top 8. Sad to see the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers are losing most of their games now. There are still 70+ games for each team though, plenty of time but they better start showing and making necessary adjustments now.
In the west, I would have liked to see the Lakers and the trailblazers to be in the top eight positions. But at the same time, it is also true that they have not played well. And the performance that they have shown, it is honestly not expected to see them in the top eight. I did want them to be up there, but I cannot say that they deserve to be up there.
I think the situation in the east is well summarised by you. Chicago Bulls, and Miami Heat both were expected to be in the top eight in my opinion. I want to say that the Chicago Bulls lineup are not widely to play in the playoffs. But at the same time, they also did not play like they are worth it, to be honest.