Bulls, Heat vie for East supremacy as downtrodden rise in NBA

Up is down and down is up in the current NBA standings.

Clubs that had in previous seasons been among the front runners have struggled this campaign.

These outfits find themselves in or near the bottom half of the league in win-loss record. They will need a late surge to secure a play-off spot.

Meanwhile, formerly downtrodden teams that had previously resided in the lower portions of the standings have suddenly risen up and currently find themselves sitting comfortably in the higher echelons of conference tables this campaign.

A look at the leaders in the Eastern Conference standings finds the Chicago Bulls shockingly in the top spot with a record of 27-15.

In just his second season as coach, Billy Donovan has engineered a remarkable turnaround.

If you saw the Bulls — a team that struggled to a 22-43 mark last campaign — pulling this off, you are probably some…