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Tim BontempsESPN
For a generation, being a quality Eastern Conference team has meant guaranteed entry into the NBA postseason.
Unlike teams in the West, where good teams have been routinely left out of the playoff picture, the East has been . We’ve seen teams make less than 8 out of 18 seasons in the playoffs, averaging 4 wins behind the 4th place team in each conference and 5 wins behind the 8th place team in each conference.
But those days are over.
The team will regularly make the kind of stretch the Toronto Raptors endure heading into the 2022-23 season: the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Brooklyn Nets, the Miami Heat (twice) and the Philadelphia 76ers (twice). ), seven straight games against the Atlanta Hawks.
“East,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said with a smile, “not for the faint of heart.”
In the first week of the season, ESPN attended six games featuring six of the seven teams in ESPN’s winning-loss prediction: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto. Raptors.
Here’s what we’ve learned about each contender as they start navigating what should be a season-long challenge to the playoffs.
When asked to analyze Boston’s early season play, several league scouts and executives pointed to Brogdon’s direct influence.
“He’s exactly what they needed,” said an East scout who saw Boston play.
Acquired by the Celtics from the Indiana Pacers in a trade this summer, Brogdon has shown an ability to generate offense after hitting the heart of the defense while being able to hold up as part of Boston’s defensive plan. .
Case in point: In the first quarter of Boston’s season opener against Philadelphia, Brogdon grabbed the defensive rebound, pushed the ball upcourt, and hit Grant Williams Scored three points in one possession, caught the ball with a swing in the corner, and attacked James Harden And rim to rim for the next layup.
All about understandable focus Stephen CurryOffensive brilliance during the Golden State Warriors’ six-game victory in the NBA Finals, the truth is the Celtics lost that series. one’s own. His offensive rating of 105.6 for Boston in the Finals would have drawn the Detroit Pistons to his 28th place during the regular season.
that’s all Jason Tatum When Jalen Brown You can rely on it to create shots yourself. Adding another high-level creator to Brogdon, who averaged 19.1 points and 5.9 assists for the Pacers last season, takes a lot of the weight off the All-Star shoulders. His 3.3 assists per game so far is double that of any man who has been replaced in Boston’s rotation. Peyton Pritchardaverage during last year’s playoff run.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Solution at small forward?
nevertheless Darius Garland The Cavaliers, who have missed all but the first half of Cleveland’s first game because of a left eye injury, looked like they were the billed contenders after dealing with the All-Stars. Donovan Mitchellslipped into the Cleveland offense for three consecutive 30-point games.
Jarrett Allen When Evan Mobley As expected, the paint flakes off.When Kevin Love It remains a walking 3-pointer from the bench.
There are lingering questions about small forward spots in Cleveland’s starting and closing lineups, behind Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and Allen.
Initially, Caris LevertAfter showing his strength in the preseason, he nodded. However, Lebart has been without Garland in a larger creation role, averaging 6.3 of his assists per game. He’s gone 24-for-3 with his 2-pointers, leaving opposing scouts and executives wondering if his lack of defensive prowess makes him next to Mitchell. and garland.
in the meantime, Isaac OkoroHe was the fifth pick in the 2020 Draft. Dean Wade is the closest approximation to what Cleveland got Lauri Markkanen Last season, Wade is still coming back from a preseason ankle injury.
While Allen and Mobley are the anchors for Cleveland, the Cavaliers are the elite and big star wings of the East: Tatum, Brown, Harden, Jimmy Butler When chris middleton — There is no clear answer as to how they will try to slow it down. It’s a situation worth keeping an eye on until the trading deadline of February 9th.
Miami Heat: Where Bum Goes Where They Go
When the Heat hosted the Celtics and then the Raptors twice, a familiar trend emerged: Miami builds a lead with star big men. Bam Adebayo On court, when he went to the bench, he gave it back almost immediately.
In Friday’s loss to Boston, Adebayo was plus 20 in a game Miami lost by seven points. He was plus-5 in each of his two contests against Toronto on Saturday and Monday, with the Heat winning by three and losing by eight to him respectively.
In those three games, Adebayo spent a total of 35 minutes and 40 seconds off the court. In those minutes, the Heat were ahead by 42 points.
That pace cannot be maintained in an 82-game season, but PJ Tucker Now in Philadelphia, the Miami front line is underway.
“Everybody’s trying to find a rhythm. They’re trying to figure it out,” Adebayo said after the loss to Boston.
Second-year big man’s imminent return Omer UelzenHe has been sidelined with an ankle injury to start the season but is with the team in the current three-game West Coast trip.Yurtseven’s return allows Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to sit down Dwayne Dedmonhad a net rating of minus 25.5 in four games.
Considering the Bucks advanced to the No. 3 seed in the East last season, it’s easy to forget that starting center Brook Lopez missed practically the entire regular season with a back problem.
But if the first week of the season shows anything, it’s that the veteran big man in the final year of his contract looks primed.
at last week’s season opener Joel Embiid Lopez was quick to remind us why his mammoth size at 7 feet 280 pounds combined with his outside shooting touch is crucial to Milwaukee’s success.
Against the 76ers, Lopez hit four 3-pointers, blocked two shots, and played a big part in Milwaukee’s holding Philadelphia to just 88 points.
“If you told me this morning that I would win the game with 90 points, I would probably do it.” [have said]’No way’ ‘Super Star Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said after the Philadelphia victory.
“But at the end of the day, this is our goal. We want to be one of the best defensive teams.”
Having Lopez next to Antetokounmpo provides a huge wall for the opposing offense to navigate – he scored six blocks and scored a game as Milwaukee scored a comeback victory over Brooklyn on Wednesday. Recorded an all-time plus 21 – while Lopez’s floor spacing creates room for Antetokounmpo to work on the other end.
Middleton has been sidelined for wrist surgery in the offseason, but Lopez’s play has been well matched by the Bucks’ four core players: Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Lopez, and Lopez. Jules Holiday — It would be hard to pick them in a 7-game series.
If I had to sum up the 76ers in one word through their first five games, it would be that they were disjointed.
It’s bad enough for a team hoping to contend for the championship to lose four of their first five games, but what’s even more concerning is how Losses are increasing.
Against Boston and Toronto, it was the 76ers who routed in transition, winning by a combined 53-19 margin in fast break points in the two games. Against Milwaukee, it was a 5-for-24 effort from a 3-point range, while Joel Embiid went 6-for-21 overall and took no shots in the second half. Against San Antonio, Rivers later admitted the 76ers didn’t play hard enough against underdog opponents.
Individual players performed well offensively, but one player scored at least 29 points in all five matches. Among them are Embiid, who scored his 40th in the Sun against Antonio, and both him and his team. Tyrese Maxsey 31 points against Toronto — No games clicked by this group.
4 top scorers (Embiid, Maxxie, James Harden, Tobias Harris) played many games together during the regular season and playoffs last year.The Phillies had the eighth-best offense in the NBA after trading Harden. It was a strange development.
It’s also caused them to demand more time to engage, something Rivers, Embiid, and Harden have been emphasizing this season, but it’s confusing.
After the loss to San Antonio on Saturday, Embiid told reporters, “It’s a fairly new team and it’s going to take some time for everyone to be on the same page. But we’ll be fine.”
In moments like these, it’s worth remembering that the 2013-14 version of the 76ers (the first “process” team) won their first three games. lebron jamesChris Bosh, Dwyane Wade.
That team finished the season 19-63. That means the season won’t be decided in a week for him.
But the 76ers should feel very lucky that the Phillies are in the World Series and the Eagles are the only undefeated team in the NFL.
Toronto Raptors: Why Every Game Is A Fight
Here are the scoring differentials for Toronto’s first four games:
That’s the life of the Raptors. Toronto is arguably the league’s elite defensive he’ll be one of his teams.
result? Plenty of exciting clutch-time basketball and late-game stress for Raptors fans.
I’m not saying that Toronto doesn’t feel comfortable in such an environment. His two wins in the team’s first of the season against Cleveland and Miami saw a fourth-quarter comeback after the Toronto engineers slowly drained their opponents.
“I know I have to guard and I have to create offense from defense,” Nurse said after Monday’s win in Miami.
But the way the Raptors play is never easy. Unlike many of their eastern competitors, they don’t have a go-to attack option that allows them to generate their own attacks when the game slows down. Pascal Siakam If his first week was any indication, it’s been great so far and should be a contender for the All-NBA spot again.
But when Toronto is at its best, like Wednesday night’s game against Philadelphia, the Raptors win by flipping their opponents and going into transition. Against Philadelphia, the Raptors converted 13 76ers turnovers to 21 points and maintained a 29-17 dominance in fastbreak points, including going 10-10 from the field in transition.
As a result, they won without getting into a shot-by-shot situation that could tip the scales in Philadelphia’s favor.
