Since I wrote about the best teams in the West, I might as well write about the best teams in the East. The East is significantly less competitive in terms of seeding and games behind, but that does not mean they are any less capable of winning it all. To me, there are two real contenders, and one sneaky team that could make a run as they always do. The top two contenders in the East, are the First place Celtics, and the Second place Cavs. This might seem quite obvious that they are the contenders, but its no accident that they are the top of their conference.
The Celtics are dominant, to say the least. They are 46-12, with a staggering 27-3 record at home. They are currently on a 9 game winning streak, and have arguably the best starting 5 in all of basketball. Led by All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Derrick White Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday have been running through the East. In conference play, they are 33-6, and average 120.7 points per game. There’s a reason they have the best odds to win it all: because they probably will. There is quite frankly no holes in this team, and they control their own destiny come playoff time. Teams better hope it doesn’t come down to game 7 in Boston, because that hostile environment will not bode well for away teams.
The second best team is the Cleveland Cavs, with a record of 38-20. They are 20-10 at home, led by All-Star Donovan Mitchell. This Cleveland team is one of the few teams in the NBA who still plays hard defense. Their opponents average 109.7 points per game, the best in the East. Their backcourt split between Mitchell, Darius Garland, Max Strus, and Caris Levert, leave opposing teams struggling to stop the 3 ball. When they’re hot, they’re hot, and when they’re not, they can work the ball down to their dominant bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. This team’s offense is a well oiled machine, and they could make a crazy playoff run.
The sneakiest team in the East is the Heat. The made the finals last year as an 8 seed, because of one man: Playoff Jimmy. Jimmy Butler turns into a different animal come playoff time, and will take this heat team wherever he leads them. After making some trades at the deadline and picking up Shooting Guard Terry Rozier, the heat added a crucial 20 points per game scorer in their offense they desperately needed. This offense can have anyone go off any given night, between All-Star Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, or Rookie Sensation Jaime Jaquez Jr. This Miami Heat team is currently 33-25, sitting at 5th in the East, but don’t be surprised if this Heat team makes another deep run.
The Bucks did not make my list for a simple reason. They have no coaching. The talent on this team is insane, but without no coaching, you can’t go very far. Talent will only get you to the playoffs, but coaching is what gets you through it. The Bucks have had struggles all year, and their record is deceiving. I personally think the Bucks are frauds, but if they figure out their coaching slumps come playoff time, I might reconsider how I feel about them.
