Just a few weeks ago, the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference appeared to be set, but following downslides from Cleveland, Washington, Chicago and Orlando, teams 4-10 are all within one game of the team above and below them.

As it stands now, Orlando is out of the playoffs, with Philadelphia squeezing in.

And after Steve Francis? kicking of a photographer during a loss at Seattle, the Magic, who were one of the NBA?s greatest success stories of the year all season long, appear to be one team that will definitely be on the outside looking out.

With the Magic out of the picture, this leaves Cleveland, Washington, Indiana, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Jersey left to contend for the five remaining spots, where one more team will be joining Tiger Woods on the golf course in a month?s time.

To clean the picture up, let?s say that Cleveland and Washington are in.  These two teams are four games up and three games up from the 8th spot respectively, meaning they?d have to completely nosedive in order to miss the playoffs.

LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas are legitimate All-Stars and will not let their teams suffer meltdowns that extend beyond one week?s time.

This leaves Indiana, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Jersey for the final three spots.

The Pacers have had everyone and everything gnawing at their season and if this team were to allow themselves to be buried, they would have let it happen a long time ago.  They are so resilient that there is no doubt that despite the absence of Ron Artest and Jermaine O?Neal for the final stretch run, they will be in the NBA?s second season.

Speaking of resilience, Allen Iverson has become the NBA?s personification of resilience.  The Chris Webber trade already appears to be a grave mistake, his teammates are not fans of Jim O?Brien and he has a chipped bone, but they still continue to stay afloat.  Only if he has to miss a few games down the stretch will they miss the playoffs.

This leaves New Jersey and Chicago for the final two.  The Nets have made it to the NBA Finals two out of the last three seasons, but this is not the same team at all.  Vince Carter is in Jersey instead of Kenyon Martin, which gives the Nets a different look, if it is better or worse than previous year?s Nets? teams, I?m not sure, but they would definitely be a playoff team had Richard Jefferson not gone down.  If he manages to comeback, then they are in.

If Richard Jefferson does not comeback then the Bulls will be controlling their own destiny.  They are young and raw, but they are a deeper team than the Nets.  The way they recovered after opening the season with nine straight losses should become a required text for coaches driving the ship of an inexperienced team.  Ben Gordon has become one of the league?s deadliest 4th quarter players and will put himself to the test in the 1st round of the playoffs playing last season?s version of himself, Dwyane Wade.

While in the Western Conference? things are far more clear.  This column has been waiting for the Timberwolves to turn things around, but they are beginning to run out of games and with the Nuggets playing their basketball of the season, the playoffs are becoming out of reach.  

The Lakers are still hanging and dangling around, but now with Lamar Odom out indefinitely, the lottery might just be coming, which will probably help them, particularly if lottery gold is struck.