Breaking Down the East

Not too long ago, it appeared there was three title contender in the East. That's no longer the case.

Boston is without KG, playing bad basketball, and appears tired from last year. It seemed so long ago when Boston was going into that big Christmas day game in LA against the Lakers. Celtics were riding a 19 game win streak. They had played 29 games. The best 29 game start in the history of the NBA, no one even tied with them. A ridiculous 27-2. But it seems it has been all downhill from that dominating start.

Orlando was looking pretty good, too. They were up near the top of the NBA. Howard was the by far the best center in the NBA. Their point guard Jameer Nelson was having an all star season. (He did make the all star team). Then Nelson got injured. Out for the season. Getting Rafer Alston helped, but he wasn't an all star. The Magic slowly faded. They were below .500 in the last month of the season, April.

And so the East now begins and ends with the Cavs. They should have a cakewalk. LeBron is on a mission and is really closing the gap on Kobe. They are unbeatable at home. They are the best defensive team in the NBA. It's early in the playoffs, but it appears they are the class of the East. Boston and Orlando both lost at home in game one.

Outside of an Atlanta team getting hot or Wade turning into MJ, there isn't any real competition for Cleveland other than Orlando and Boston. And those teams won't be much of a challenge, either.

This Cavs team is for real. If there's a chink in their armor, I'm not aware of it. LeBron is in a great place mentally right now. They will lose 2 or 3 games on the way to the Finals to play Kobe and the mighty Lakers in a showdown for the ages. This could be the best Finals matchup in a long time. Kobe vs LeBron is enough to sell me, but these two teams are clearly on a different level than the rest of the league too.