NBA Playoff Schedule 2012: How the Eastern Conference Finals Will Pan Out

Did anyone think the Philadelphia 76ers would be one game away from the conference finals at this point in the postseason?

That fact perfectly illustrates the kind of crazy second round it's been for all four Eastern Conference teams. 

The 2012 playoffs haven't been devoid of surprises. Very few thought there would be a conference finals matchup that didn't involve the Bulls and the Heat, and yet here we are, with only one game left to determine which two teams are going to battle it out for a trip to the NBA finals, and the Bulls are out while the Heat looked like they were holding on for dear life for a while.

On the other side of the bracket, the Celtics—feeling like they lucked out when Philly dispatched Chicago in the first round—are now just one game away from elimination and can't seem to shake the Sixers.

How will it all pan out when all is said and done on Saturday night? Find out. You can see the playoff schedule at ESPN.com. 

Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
Game 7: Saturday, May 26
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ABC

These two teams have traded wins the whole way in this series, and it seems like each game, neither team can decide who it wants to be. Sometimes, the Celtics show up and shoot the lights out, and then the next game, they can barely hit the backboard. The Sixers will show up with a lockdown defense one night, and the next, they are utterly unable to stop a player who's barely been a factor throughout the postseason.

On paper, the Celtics are the better team. They have more playoff experience, more veteran leadership and were more consistent during the regular season. But the biggest problem that has plagued Boston this season—their aging veterans coupled with their very short bench—just became even more of a problem, now that Avery Bradley appears to be out for the rest of the postseason.

The Celtics are very limited when Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are not 100 percent on. They got away with a huge win in Game 5, when Brandon Bass—who averaged less than 12 points per game in the series up to that point—had a monster 27-point performance to compensate for the stars' struggles.

The Celtics will be able to pull out a win at home in Game 7, but they aren't going to stand much of a chance against the Heat, now that their limited and inexperienced bench just took another colossal hit.

Miami Heat vs. Celtics/Sixers
Game 1: TBA

For a while, the Heat's playoff life seemed to be in danger. Chris Bosh went down with an abdominal strain in Game 1, and suddenly, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James forgot how to survive without him.

But with that dust settled, the Heat looked just like their old selves again. They may have dropped Games 2 and 3 and put the NBA universe in a tailspin, but they rebounded in the biggest possible way, winning three straight to move on to the Eastern Conference finals, just like the world expected them to.

Some of the frustration boiled over for Miami in Game 5, when Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman both committed flagrant fouls and, as a result, received one- and three-game suspensions, respectively. Now that Miami escaped Game 6 without its second and third options at center, it will have Haslem back for the next series, and missing Pittman won't have too much of an impact at all.  

The Heat went 1-3 against the Celtics in the regular season, their only win coming in the second game of the season while Boston took them down three times during the stretch run in April. The Heat swept the four-game regular-season series against the Sixers, so you have to figure they're hoping Philly shows up to take them on next week.  

Nothing's confirmed, but look for this series to begin on Monday, May 28—which will put either the Sixers or the Celtics in South Beach with just one day of rest while the Heat will have had three days to relax and prepare.