After making the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, Brooklyn still has an outside chance of making a run. Of course, this would mean upsetting the mighty Atlanta Hawks in the first round, an almost impossible task. However, this is more or less the same team that upset the third-seeded Toronto Raptors in the first round last year. PG Deron Williams and SG/SF Joe Johnson can form a dynamic backcourt, and they must do a lot in this series to pick apart the stingy Atlanta defense. C Brook Lopez needs to become a two-way force, while C/PF Mason Plumlee makes the battle for rebounds competitive. PF/SF Thaddeus Young must bring his intangibles to the table: defense, rebounding, and the occasional scoring from the low block. If everything clicks and a relatively weak second unit steps up, knocking off Atlanta isn't out of the question, nor is making the Eastern Conference Finals afterwards. The road won't go further than there however, but that would be a fantastic run for such an overpaid group.