Eastern Conference Contender Watch: Time's Running Out

Eastern Conference Contender Watch: Time's Running Out

Toronto's bench has terrorized the NBA, but will Casey commit to them in the playoffs? Will the Cavs and Celtics even get right in time for it to matter?

Mar 21, 2018 by Cleft Fielder
Eastern Conference Contender Watch: Time's Running Out
There are three very distinct issues facing the three top teams in the Eastern Conference. 

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There are three very distinct issues facing the three top teams in the Eastern Conference. 

Toronto is rolling and is clearly one of the top few teams in the entire league but also a team that has struggled to play well in the playoffs. 

Boston is missing players with no clear timetable of a return in two cases. Can the Celtics find their best footing if indeed everyone comes back? 

And in Cleveland, as LeBron exhibits no signs of doing anything but improving, impossible as that may seem, along with Kevin Love’s return, drama continues to invade the Cavaliers' space. 

With the playoffs now less than a month away, can these teams beat one of the Western Conference powers in the Finals? As of today, there is still a chance. 

Will Toronto's Bench Matter In A Month?

Having won 11 straight games, the Raptors led Oklahoma City (another hot team) by two as they entered the fourth quarter Sunday at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto’s bench has been a huge part of their success, and to that point in the game, its reserves had outscored OKC 38-10. 

There are fair questions being tossed around regarding just how meaningful a great bench is come playoff time. The first few possessions of this fourth quarter illustrate one of them. The Raptors started that final quarter with Kyle Lowry alongside four bench unit guys: Delon Wright, CJ Miles, Pascal Siakam, and Jakob Poeltl. Individually, all five had strong games to that point. But Toronto opened the fourth with two turnovers between Lowry and Siakam, and when combined with two defensive mistakes that allowed wide-open 3s by the Thunder, the Raptors were trailing. 


Though they recovered to take one-point leads a few times in that quarter, they lost control of the game and ultimately fell 132-125. 

Toronto coach Dwane Casey opted to try a unit that had not played more than two dozen or so possessions together all season because he had those guys playing well already and he is still open to experimenting. He is wise to think this way, which leads to one of the playoff dilemmas for bench units: How much is he willing to experiment when Cleveland, Boston, or the Western opponent beats up a reserve unit in the second half? Because if he isn’t open to giving his strong bench the chance to play through rough spots, then it truly does not matter how good those units have been through mid-March. 

That is why he is experimenting now. If he wants to trust units in April and beyond, now is the time to earn his trust while learning from mistakes. A deeper bench means more rested starters, with each unit more capable of giving maximum energy when playing. That is a very valuable resource in playoff games that feature tired stars.

Boston Has Big Question Marks On The Mend

With Gordon Hayward and now Marcus Smart out for a while, Boston won’t make any progress on Toronto for the top seed. But the Celtics can work on getting Greg Monroe more in tune with their plan, and he could be a difference maker for them in second unit matchups. He and Kyrie Irving have teamed up to very good success in limited minutes together, perhaps something Brad Stevens is doing intentionally. 

Monroe has shown good activity and agility in Boston, and he is a gifted passer while being more of a post presence on offense than Al Horford. For the Celtics to truly be title contenders, it's likely they will need Hayward to play and his status is uncertain at present. It’s doubtful they even make it that far without him. If we assume, though, that they have him and he is at least 70 percent of what he typically would be, there is an argument for them. 


Their top performing lineup has been devastating this season, with Aaron Baynes at center so Horford and Brown can slide down a slot as Jayson Tatum sits. Tatum in as a starter has been an excellent lineup, as well, meaning, when Monroe and Hayward are included, that’s a strong eight-player rotation. Baynes and Monroe give Boston depth and flexibility at center when it goes big, potentially a problem for Cleveland and a good counter to how well Jonas Valanciunas has been playing for Toronto. While there is no stopping LeBron, slowing him with a huge man hanging out at the rim is the best any East team can offer. 

Of course, none of this matters unless Smart recovers from wrist surgery (possibly) and Hayward plays at a high level (unlikely).

Cleveland's Offensive Defense

Average. That’s the word that comes to mind when watching the Cavs play. 

As amazing as they typically are on offense, they are about as bad on defense. Still. We have to account for injuries to Kevin Love and Larry Nance as a big part of why they still struggle to defend. But, now, with coach Tyronn Lue off for a week, it’s hard to imagine they will grow as a defensive unit in a meaningful way. 

This team simply has not looked like a contender but for a handful of times all season, before or after the big trades. But there are two issues at work though that force us to keep the Cavaliers under consideration. 

The first is obvious. In a game of five-on-five, when one team has the world’s best player, as Cleveland does, and when that player averages 44 minutes a game, as LeBron just might average, his team has a chance to win every game it plays. LeBron is having a superlative season, and he has proved all too often that he can carry a weak supporting cast to the Finals. Just remember what he did when Matthew Dellavedova was one of his most important teammates. 


There are concerns about this year's model, as the newness of the group and these injuries force LeBron to expend energy he might otherwise have been able to save to keep his team afloat. James Harden now has Chris Paul in Houston. Golden State is loaded with scoring punch. Portland and Toronto have dynamic backcourts and an improving scoring center. Cleveland has, um, Jordan Clarkson: a dynamic one-on-one talent who may struggle mightily if defenses force him to be a passer more so than they do in the regular season. It is not a strength of his. 

Which leads to issue No. 2: 

Cleveland has done this in previous seasons, struggled to defend until the playoffs before magically playing with a connection. To flat-out eliminate that as a possibility is wrong, to date. There is still time to jell as players and Lue return to action. Getting on the same page offensively and defensively will help LeBron find rest on offense so he can be superlative on defense, an area he has not expended much energy or thought toward this year. That cast can help him, who in turn can lift up everyone. 

As is the case for Boston, though, time is running out.

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