Which Eastern Conference Team Should Concern Us Most?

[SHAQATTACK]

Raptors .


Bron is ready to fold and move on to ONE of the LA teams . He already is showing signs of this , fans reconize it as well as his teamates.  Question is which one.

[celticsclay]

It's still the Cavs.

Are we positive cavs make the playoffs at this point? They are 5 up on surging pistons and have played as bad as almost anyone for a month or so (plus now don't have love)

yes.

This is absurd.

People definitely think it is possible http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22336072/tyronn-lue-says-cleveland-cavaliers-going-make-playoffs

[saltlover]

It's still the Cavs.

Are we positive cavs make the playoffs at this point? They are 5 up on surging pistons and have played as bad as almost anyone for a month or so (plus now don't have love)

yes.

This is absurd.

I mean, it’s absurd that it’s a possibility, but it’s not absurd to suggest it.  The Cavs are 7-13 in their last 20, most of which were played with the now-injured Kevin Love.  If they play the rest of the season at the same rate, they’ll go 11-20, and finish at 41-41.  That record could very well miss the playoffs.

[TheisTheisBaby]

The Cavs because the refs will still be forced to give them the calls when push comes to shove.  If the games are called straight up, nobody in the East can compete with us.

[Phantom255x]

The Cavs because the refs will still be forced to give them the calls when push comes to shove.  If the games are called straight up, nobody in the East can compete with us.

Yeah honestly with the ways the refs have been calling our games the past few weeks, that can be an issue too... 

[keevsnick]

It's still the Cavs.

Are we positive cavs make the playoffs at this point? They are 5 up on surging pistons and have played as bad as almost anyone for a month or so (plus now don't have love)

yes.

This is absurd.

I mean, it’s absurd that it’s a possibility, but it’s not absurd to suggest it.  The Cavs are 7-13 in their last 20, most of which were played with the now-injured Kevin Love.  If they play the rest of the season at the same rate, they’ll go 11-20, and finish at 41-41.  That record could very well miss the playoffs.

In addition they are actually one of the luckiest teams in the league. By that i mean that they have outperformed the number of wins expected given their net rating by more than any other team in the league. This is largely attributable to insane clutch performance, but if that normalizes they could be even worse. of course Lebron has alot to do with that clutch performance, but he's been mortal lately.

[Valid]

Are we seriously debating whether or not a LeBron-led team will make the playoffs in the East? Come on now. Lol.

[LilRip]

The team were about to face: the Raptors

Derozan is playing the best ball of his career and he finally has some range to his shot. Despite Lebron’s presence, I’m predicting a 2nd round exit for the Cavs and we’ll see a Raps-C’s ECF. I’m not confident we can beat Toronto but we’ll see.

[trickybilly]

The team were about to face: the Raptors

Derozan is playing the best ball of his career and he finally has some range to his shot. Despite Lebron’s presence, I’m predicting a 2nd round exit for the Cavs and we’ll see a Raps-C’s ECF. I’m not confident we can beat Toronto but we’ll see.

The statistics barely back up this commonly held sentiment in basketball circles. He is shooting a lot volume but...

That being said, DeRozan's 5 year deal was one of those things where I thought, this guy is going to fade away. Could be the best contract in basketball next year..

[Moranis]

It's still the Cavs.

Are we positive cavs make the playoffs at this point? They are 5 up on surging pistons and have played as bad as almost anyone for a month or so (plus now don't have love)

They are also the 3rd seed and the 4th seed is missing its best player for like 2 months.  So even if the Pistons catch them (which is unlikely), the odds that they fall behind every single other playoff team they are currently ahead of is so unlikely it isn't worth talking about.  And click bait stories on ESPN shouldn't be used to prove that point.

[SHAQATTACK]

Does Lebron currently have a negitive on court rating ?  and on court defense rating worse than IT .

Mayb e columnist are wrong .   Hard to believe some of the stuff Im reading ......about the greatest player in the world.

[Moranis]

Does Lebron currently have a negitive on court rating ?  and on court defense rating worse than IT .

Mayb e columnist are wrong .   Hard to believe some of the stuff Im reading ......about the greatest player in the world.

Yes.  For the first time in his career, Lebron James' team has been better with him on the bench then on the floor.  He is currently -2.5 on/off.  This is also the first time since his rookie year that his team has been outscored with him on the court.  The Cavs are -1.0 with James on the floor (his rookie year the Cavs were -2.6, though they were -4.8 without him on the floor for an on/off of +2.2).  As a comparison, last year James' on/off was +17.1, which is one of the reasons I would have voted him the MVP last year.  This year, despite the great numbers there isn't really a credible reason to vote him MVP. 

[Redz]

Does Lebron currently have a negitive on court rating ?  and on court defense rating worse than IT .

Mayb e columnist are wrong .   Hard to believe some of the stuff Im reading ......about the greatest player in the world.

I haven't seen a whole lot of Cavs games, but Lebron's stat lines have been pretty startling for him.  Especially when you consider the numbers he was putting up earlier in the season.  The guy can score at will if he wants to, so I have to imagine the will simply isn't there.

Pouty face for Bronny Bron.

[celticsclay]

It's still the Cavs.

Are we positive cavs make the playoffs at this point? They are 5 up on surging pistons and have played as bad as almost anyone for a month or so (plus now don't have love)

They are also the 3rd seed and the 4th seed is missing its best player for like 2 months.  So even if the Pistons catch them (which is unlikely), the odds that they fall behind every single other playoff team they are currently ahead of is so unlikely it isn't worth talking about.  And click bait stories on ESPN shouldn't be used to prove that point.

Obviously it is still likely they will. However, as Saltlover pointed out "The Cavs are 7-13 in their last 20, most of which were played with the now-injured Kevin Love.  If they play the rest of the season at the same rate, they’ll go 11-20, and finish at 41-41.  That record could very well miss the playoffs."

I think that is a pretty good point, and makes this from unlikely, to not completely insane. Love has been pretty good for them at times this year and they already were short on bigs. Interesting to see what happens the rest of the year (I still expect them to make a trade and kind of make this all moot)

[CelticsElite]

We got our answer?