As the NBA season continues its stretch run toward the playoffs it seems each and every game from here on out holds major implications on the standings.
In the East, there’s a new team atop the conference standings, while the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards remain in a tightly-contested battle for the coveted third seed.
Let’s take a look at the weekly snapshot for each team gunning for a top-three seed:
BOSTON CELTICS
With Cleveland’s loss in San Antonio last night, the Celtics officially overtook the defending champ for the No. 1 seed in the East. Boston had begun separating themselves from the Raptors/Wizards cluster fighting for third a couple of weeks ago, and look to be in good shape to hold on to the top spot (surely one of the weaker 1-seeds in recent memory).
The Celtics face a red-hot Milwaukee Bucks team tomorrow night, and then will get some relief with games versus the Magic and Knicks before their April 5 matchup with the Cavaliers in a critically important contest that could ultimately determine the East’s top dog when all is said and done.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
A new entry on this list, the Cavs are struggling at the worst time possible with LeBron James calling their situation “delicate” following their embarrassing 103-74 loss to the Spurs. Cleveland was always going to struggle defensively while playing the likes of Kyrie Irving, Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Deron Williams and Kevin Love major minutes, but have worringly gone cold from deep, nullifying the team’s most dangerous weapon.
The loss, coupled with another L versus Washington over the weekend leaves Cleveland looking vulnerable. They still hold a two-game lead over the third-place Wizards and have a soft schedule over their next four games (Bulls, 76ers, Pacers, Magic). After that, however, they close out the season against five East playoff teams— the Celtics, Hawks (twice), Heat, and Raptors in the final game of the 2016-17 regular season.
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WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Their win over Cleveland on Saturday was a massive confidence boost, and all-star John Wall is on fire as of late. The Wizards are a tough matchup for most any team in the conference and are currently riding a three-game win streak.
That said, they still only hold a half-game lead on the Raptors and have the toughest schedule of all teams listed here, with games against the Jazz, Warriors, Clippers, and Heat (twice) still on the slate.
TORONTO RAPTORS
The Raptors have won six straight and are playing terrific ball on both ends of the floor of late, particularly on defence where they’ve posted the best defensive rating in the conference since the all-star break. The additions of Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker are paying dividends, while DeMar DeRozan, who was just named the East’s player of the week, continues to put the team on his back and is in the midst of the best single-season performance by any Raptor ever, following up back-to-back 40-point games with 36 on Monday against the Magic.
As mentioned, the Raptors are now just a half-game back from the Wizards and own the tiebreaker thanks to winning the season series, 2-1. The Raps also benefit from arguably the easiest schedule of any team ahead of them in the standings, with games against the Hornets, Pacers (twice), 76ers, Pistons, and Knicks ahead. Their April 7 contest against the Heat and the season finale with Cleveland will be critical to their chances of finishing the season in the top three, suddenly a very realistic outcome.
The best part? They’ve done all of this without Kyle Lowry, who still aims to return for the post-season.
