2012 NBA Playoffs: Derrick Rose Injury Makes East Wide Open

Derrick Rose, last season's NBA MVP and the heart and soul of the Chicago Bulls—the NBA's best team during the regular season—suffered a torn ACL in the Bulls' Game 1 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rose is obviously out for the remainder of the postseason with the injury.

Without Rose in the mix, the Eastern Conference playoffs have suddenly become a lot more interesting. That's because before the Rose injury, it was basically a foregone conclusion that the Bulls and the Miami Heat would meet in the Eastern Conference finals.

Now with Rose out, that's anything but a guarantee. Rose's injury has opened the door for a couple different teams to make a run to the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat are one obvious benefactor. The Heat were one of the favorites heading into the playoffs, and if anything, they only strengthened that viewpoint by dismantling the New York Knicks, 100-67, in Game 1 of their series.

One of Miami's obvious obstacles to winning the title was going to be the Bulls. But now that the Bulls are without Rose, the Heat are expected to breeze through the Eastern Conference.

Two more teams that figure to benefit from Rose's injury are the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics are opening their first-round matchup against the Hawks this afternoon. Whoever wins that matchup is slated to face the winner of the Bulls and the 76ers in the second round.

While the Bulls still have a decent shot of knocking off the 76ers, getting past the Hawks or the Celtics figures to be a different story.

Yes, the Bulls went 18-9 without Rose during the regular season. But playing without him in the playoffs is a different story. The competition ratchets up. Not to mention the emotional toll it will take on the Bulls, knowing that Rose is not coming back.

Without Rose, it means that whoever wins the series between the Celtics and Hawks has a good shot of meeting the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

If it's the Hawks that meet the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, it bodes well for the Heat. Miami went 3-1 against Atlanta in the regular season. After losing its first meeting to the Hawks, 100-92, the Heat won the next three, outscoring the Hawks 312-282 in the three games.

But if Boston makes it past the Hawks and the Rose-less Bulls to face the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, suddenly Miami's path to the NBA Finals becomes a lot more interesting.

The Celtics were 3-1 against the Heat in the regular season. They also have the type of team that can give Miami problems. They've got a veteran team that knows how to play in the playoffs—they won't wither when the lights are brightest.

The Celtics also play the type of stifling defense that usually translates to success in the postseason. And their defense has been battle-tested against the Heat, holding Miami to 72 points and 66 points in two of its losses to Boston.

What figured to be a two-team race for the Eastern Conference championship between the Bulls and the Heat at the start of the playoffs may end up being anything but that. Instead, due to Rose's injury, we may see the Boston Celtics beating the Heat in the conference finals and moving on to the NBA Finals.