If you were to have asked me at the start of the season who the Cavs biggest rival in the East was going to be, I would have said with 100% certainty the Miami Heat. A healthy Wade and Bosh, a surging Whiteside, a premier combo guard and a rookie who could immediately contribute off the bench. Here we are however only two weeks out of the All-Star break, and Miami is in the mix with all the other Eastern Conference pretenders. Rumors of Chris Bosh’s blood clots returning possibly forcing him to retire, mixed with a case of too many cooks in the kitchen on offense, and a play from another team having problems “fitting in” with the team after being relegated to the third best player on the team… stop me if you’ve heard this one before; the Miami Heat have severely underperformed expectations this year. So who then, would be pushing the Cavs in the East?
The logical conclusion would be Chicago; they’ve been rivals with Cleveland dating all the way back to the Jordan Era, LeBron has eliminated Chicago from the playoffs 5 years in a row now, and so far this season Cleveland has not claimed a win over its central division rival. Yet these are empty wins for Chicago, both coming at very situational times, and Chicago itself is in shambles; currently not even in a position to get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. NBA analyst for Bleacher Report, Greg Anthony, even went as far to make the bold prediction that due to Jimmy Butler’s injuries the Bulls will not even make it into this year’s playoff mix.
Yet through all the chaos and mediocrity in the Eastern Conference, two surprise contenders has risen to the challenge. The Toronto Raptors are playing phenomenal basketball and not only are vastly improved from the previous year, while the Boston Celtics have gone from sneaking into the 7th seed last year to being a single piece away from being true contenders. First, let’s look at the Raptors.
There is no way around it, the Raptors are good. Their improvements stemmed from avoiding big name free agents and instead choosing to build around their existing core in the offseason. Signing Bismack Biyombo, offering an extension to Jonas Valanciunas and the addition of Veteran Luis Scola all provided the Raptors with one of the strongest front courts in the NBA. In addition they signed a poor man’s LeBron in DeMarre Carroll and extended Terrence Ross’s contract giving a strong backup at the three spot. Paired with one of the most potent backcourts in the East, the Raptors came into this year ready to make the jump from rebuilding to contending.
Contend they did, the Raptors have not underwhelmed this season. While a majority of the Eastern Conference sits between eight and ten games behind Cleveland, Toronto sits a mere three games behind. Until a game against the Nuggets on February 2nd, the Raptors held a franchise record 11 game winning streak. Kyle Lowry currently sits at the number two position in all time assists for the Raptors. These aren’t the same Raptors that got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round last year.
The Raptors haven’t had this meteoric quietly either. People, both inside and outside the association, have taken notice. The Raptors starting back court both have made it into the All Star game, as well as being named co-Eastern Conference Player(s) of the month. Their coach Dwane Casey was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January. Bleacher Report in their weekly power rankings seated the Raptors above the Cavs, stating at least at the moment, the Raptors were at least marginally better than Cleveland. ESPN also places Toronto at 3 while Cleveland sits at 4 and SI has similar results. What makes these results even more impressive however is that the Raptors have been able to produce these results without their All-Star small forward, DeMarre Carroll.
The Celtics are something different. They have somehow found a way to be contenders while simultaneously still rebuilding. It’s rare to see a team with so many role-players and no superstars preform so well (to be fair, I said the same thing about Atlanta last year, so maybe it’s more common than I like to believe) yet here stands Boston, a completely different team than they were five years ago, and arguably only a few steps away from being just as good as the KG Big Three era.
If they play their cards right, the Celtics could find themselves sitting pretty as the challengers for the Cavs’ Eastern Conference Finals title. Quietly picking up steam over the past two years, the Celtic’s can attribute their success to two different factors, Brad Stevens and the Rise of Jae Crowder. Brad Stevens is a genius, if I were to rank the coaches in the NBA at this moment, it would go Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle, Brad Stevens and I think Brad has a higher ceiling then even Pop or Phil Jackson (Warning, the takes here are very hot, make sure not to burn yourself), all he needs to do is be more of an a-hole to the TNT broadcasting crew and he will officially become Pop. Stevens has been able to work with a roster of assets, and using rotations and matchup exploitation has made the sandlot into the Yankee’s. Stevens also has top notch court vision, he is able to not only use his players to their peak efficiency, but also to exploit the flaws of other teams players, for example knowing that Shumpert wouldn’t risk fouling with under a few seconds left so lose defense would be played on the three point line. Stevens is one of the few times in which a college coach made a very successful transition to the NBA, and has made the Celtics a force to be reckoned with in the East.
Crowder provides an interesting case study of a young player who’s not a superstar being a successful first or second option. Sure, Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas as a tandem provide volume scoring as a back court, but Crowder is that team’s rock. He has had a breakout season and a half, vaulting himself from role player status to that of an Al Horford level player. I just really like Crowder’s game, be it his hair, his hustle and high intensity two way game, his clear leadership on the court, his hair (I mean have you seen those dreads, they’re really cool). Someone who was supposed to simply be a trade chip has developed into one of the premier players on Boston’s roster. He’s found a way to elevate his status to a point where Danny Ainge will have to think twice before packaging him in a deal for a superstar.
While it would be a stretch to call either of these teams’ Cleveland’s true rival, both Toronto and Boston have proven to be more than just another team in the mix. Cleveland and Toronto are the only two teams that have truly broken from the pack of mediocrity that is the Eastern Conference, but Boston is right on their heels. Cleveland’s rivalry with Toronto stems from how the two teams match up. From a duel between two of the elite point guard, The King and a Junkyard Dog, or a clash of European big men, almost any position provides a storyline as any player in any of the positions can have a breakout night. In any given seven game series between the two teams the results could end in a four game sweep or a grind out seven game slugfest. Boston’s matchup is a bit different, instead its legacies being pushed up against each other. On top of being two Eastern Conference juggernauts 6-7 years ago, the two teams have individual players holding chips on their respective shoulders. Kelly Olynyk has assumed the mantle of Cleveland’s coveted “Most Hated Player in the League” award, Kyrie Irving missed out on this years All Star Game because of Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder was drafted by the Cavs but never got a chance to play, Love was robbed of a playoff run, even at the end of the Bench the Celtic’s Rozier is from Cleveland and will (in garbage time) play with purpose back home.
The Raptors and Cavs share similarities outside of just scoring abilities and similarity of players, something that the Celtics will analyse and likely try and exploit in a matchup against either team. Both teams have beaten every single Eastern Conference opponent but one this season, the Chicago Bulls. This inability to win (at least in the regular season) comes as a result of both teams being weak against strong inside attacks, something Pau, Taj and Noah have perfected. Not only are both teams not strong paint defenders, the Raptors and the Cavs rank 17th and 19th respectively in points scored in the paint. Instead both are known more for a strong perimeter defense and prefer midrange jumpers and three point plays to traditional drives. This being said Boston itself is not stellar on the inside. Trade rumors surrounding the C’s almost always lead back to one thing, they need a crunch time scoring big man like Kevin Love or Demarcus Cousins. This interior lack of presence is something that both the Cavs and Raptors will have to address in a potential Celtics matchup. While Tyler Zeller may not be the league’s premier big man, he still has the skills to bully inside, matched with the quickness and slashing of Isaiah Thomas could end up seeing a repeat of the Raptors loss to Denver where they were outscored in the paint 60-27.
The Raptors, while unlikely, are the only real team that could potentially pull an upset over the Cavs in the East. Even with upgrades, the Celtics are a missing piece away from being contenders, and even if they do land someone before the trade deadline, it will cost assets and could potentially take some time before finding a new rotation. Instead it’s the athletic nature, and scoring potential of the Raptors starting five creates a legitimate challenge for the Cavaliers coming out of the East, this and a strong coaching staff makes for a potent combination. Analysts look at these teams and may cry strength of schedule for why anyone besides the Cavs look like they have a chance in the East, but all the games this season between these three have been generally competitive and while the East is still very much the Cavs to lose, it’s getting harder and harder to deny that the East is becoming competitive again.