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The more time that elapses, the better I feel about the Raptors in the Eastern Conference.
Boston has lost six of eleven after their runway start. Beyond just a s sliding win/loss record, some of their suspected shortcomings - secondary scoring, defensive rebounding, etc. - have begun to cost them games. Wizards are dangerous because of the Beal/Wall combo but remain the thinnest 'good' team in the league. They have six NBA rotation players, a trait that will almost certainly catch up to them throughout the grind of an NBA regular season and a possible playoff run. The Sixers and Bucks, everyone's trendy choices as the EC team poised to make a huge leap this season, continue to struggle with consistency. Philly would finish in tenth if the season ended today. Pistons, Pacers and Knicks are all better than expected but do not strike any fear if you were to find yourself in a 7 game series with them. The Heat have shown that their second half surge from last season was in fact a fluke. The Hornets are awful. Bulls, Hawks, Nets and Magic... whatever.
Cleveland remains the class of the Conference despite what the current standings reflect, and will be the odds on favourite to emerge from the East until someone shows that they're capable of beating LBJ. But there are reasons for optimism that this may be the Raptors best chance yet to knock them off. The success of the bench mob should let us see the most rested Raptors team ever heading into a playoff series, with a fresh Lowry being a key. The defensive emergence of players like OG and Siakam gives the Raptors some options defensively to throw at Lebron. And of course Toronto appears to have a great chance at the number one seed in the East with the toughest parts of their schedule already over with and the wins racking up.
Boston has lost six of eleven after their runway start. Beyond just a s sliding win/loss record, some of their suspected shortcomings - secondary scoring, defensive rebounding, etc. - have begun to cost them games. Wizards are dangerous because of the Beal/Wall combo but remain the thinnest 'good' team in the league. They have six NBA rotation players, a trait that will almost certainly catch up to them throughout the grind of an NBA regular season and a possible playoff run. The Sixers and Bucks, everyone's trendy choices as the EC team poised to make a huge leap this season, continue to struggle with consistency. Philly would finish in tenth if the season ended today. Pistons, Pacers and Knicks are all better than expected but do not strike any fear if you were to find yourself in a 7 game series with them. The Heat have shown that their second half surge from last season was in fact a fluke. The Hornets are awful. Bulls, Hawks, Nets and Magic... whatever.
Cleveland remains the class of the Conference despite what the current standings reflect, and will be the odds on favourite to emerge from the East until someone shows that they're capable of beating LBJ. But there are reasons for optimism that this may be the Raptors best chance yet to knock them off. The success of the bench mob should let us see the most rested Raptors team ever heading into a playoff series, with a fresh Lowry being a key. The defensive emergence of players like OG and Siakam gives the Raptors some options defensively to throw at Lebron. And of course Toronto appears to have a great chance at the number one seed in the East with the toughest parts of their schedule already over with and the wins racking up.
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