The Eastern Conference is a CONFUSING MESS

The Eastern Conference is a CONFUSING MESS

Yo, what’s going on y’all? It’s Con and the Eastern Conference is kind of a confusing mess. We are 24 25 games into the season and I’ve got no idea how to feel about half the teams out there. Squads that start off hot are cooling off. Teams are really finding their footing. The Pistons are the one seed. What do you mean the Celtics without Jason Tatum are the three seed and there’s a one and a half game separation between the three-seated Celtics and the nine seed Atlanta Hawks? The Cavs, who I picked to win the conference, I’ve got like no faith in anymore. It is a a weird year out east. And so I just kind of want to go ahead and break it down how things are going for basically the top nine or so teams. We’re even down to the Bucks at 10. We can even talk about the Bulls at 11 who are 5-0 at one point and they’re nine and 14 right now. It’s it’s a lot. So let’s go ahead and talk about and I will also recap the games as usual. Don’t worry about that. But yeah, like the Pistons are the one seed. They’re 19-5 and that puts them on around a 64 win pace. They had 14 wins two years ago. Last year they finally broke back into the playoffs. They were had I think 44 wins or it was 46, something around that. But they were the 60C. They lose to the Knicks, but but it was a really solid Piston squad, but it felt like maybe they could take a little bit of a step back. There might be a little bit of stagnation, regression. It can happen for young teams. Nah. Kate Cunningham playing his best basketball allNBA lock at this point. 27 and a half and 9 and a half a night. Jaylen Duran is a monster. He’s putting up 19 and 11. He is a bonafide lock of an all-star right now. He and Kate Cunningham’s chemistry has become a massive weapon for this Piston squad. And Duran himself is just taking guys off the dribble. They’re a great defense anchored by like Isaiah Stewart. Uh Sar Thompson, one of the best defenders in the sport. Duncan Robinson has been huge for them. Tobias Harris has been really good again. Caris Levert, Danish Jenkins, like Jaden Ivy’s played nine games and put up seven and a half points in those games and been inefficient. He’s just not really found his footing so far this season and they’re still this good. So, if he comes back and starts to look like himself, then that takes them to a whole new level. Or they could even consider throwing Jay Na’vi in a trade package with Tobias Harris’s contract. I still would love if Lowry Markin could be a part of this team, but even as currently constructed and looking at all the numbers and the eye test, everything tells me this is a Pistons team that could legitimately win the Eastern Conference or at the very least make a conference finals run. And if that’s what they do, regardless of if they just win a playoff series two years after being a 14- win team, they’ve had one of the fastest come-ups I’ve seen in a minute. And it’s not just Kade, it’s not just Dur, it’s all these guys. I thought there was potentially a chance for them to step back. I I did have them as the five seed had them moving up a little bit, but I thought it was possible with no Malik Beasley anymore and Dennis Shruder has gone down and he was huge for them. No. Are they the best team here in the East? I don’t know because they don’t have any experience. Like that is definitely something that factors in. They had the first round loss last year, but outside of that, they don’t have a lot. Meanwhile, you’ve got like the Knicks who were a lot of people’s pick to win the East this season and today they beat the Orlando Magic 106 to 100. Uh they’re 13-1 at home. when they play Madison Square Garden, they don’t lose, which does mean that they’re three and six on the road. And, you know, they played 14 home games, only nine away, so maybe that could factor in their record could drop a little bit. I don’t know. Like, there are some games where I look at the Knicks, I’m like, “Yeah, this team is ridiculous.” And then other games where I’m like, I I’m not super convinced. And I do think part of that is still guys learning Mike Brown’s system. Like, it’s not been as good of a year for Cat as it was last season. And he’s been vocal talking about, “I’m still trying to figure out how to fit in. Like, where do I do this? Where do I do that?” Like I do think there are still growing pains with this system and some of the depth guys have not worked out the way I thought they would. Gershon Yabule I thought was going to be a godsend for the Knicks. Instead he’s been really bad this season. Uh Deuce McBride’s been really solid today against the Magic. He struggled. Jordan Clarkson’s not been very good. Like I don’t know. I still worry that the depth on this team is not really a a factor. It’s not going to be a factor when it’s all you know on the line in the playoffs. They’ve got this really good top five with Brunson and Bridges and Mitchell Robinson and Ojanobi and Carl Anthony Towns and then Josh Hart and Deuce. Like they’ve got this really solid seven, but I think you need more than that in this Eastern Conference. And I still worry about the defense, which is middle of the pack, but the offense is elite. I don’t know. The the Knicks kind of feel like a slightly evolved version of last year, but also not at the same time. I don’t know. The Knicks are one of the most confusing teams in the entire NBA because I still don’t know if a Carl Anthony Towns Jaylen Brunson duo as your stars can work in the playoffs defensively. And speaking of Orlando, who lost today, uh they’ve been playing really good. They’re 14-10 now. They’re seven and three in their last 10 games. Paulo just came back. Fron has been playing amazing basketball. Anthony Black, Jaylen Suggs, this defense has kind of refound its identity to the point where they are now up to the fifth best defense on the season after being really bad to start the year. The offense is just outside the top 10. They’ve been looking more and more like the magic we were hoping to see. Desmond Bane has been a big improving factor. But then today, Fran Vagner goes down and it looks like it’s a severe injury for his knee. We still don’t know what the injury is, how long he’s going to be out, but they just can’t catch a break with these injuries. It’s Paulo’s gone and then Fran is gone for a minute and Jayen Suggs missed like all of last season. When they’re finally kind of starting to get healthy, they just cannot fully do it. They can never get truly over the hump to have everybody on the court. And part of that makes me feel really good about this Magic team, the fact that they are playing so well. They’re really finding this footing even though guys have been in and out of the lineup. But I think Fron is the most important player to this team. He’s their best player. And if he’s going to be out for a little bit, that is a big time blow cuz he’s a defensive lynch pit. He’s been great offensively for them. So, we’ll have to see how long he’s out. But it feels like after really climbing back up the standings, they were really bad to start the year. They’ve got a chance to drop again. And with how close this East is, that could play in huge when we get to the end of the season and we’re trying to figure out what seating is going to look like. Especially because we’ve got a team like the Celtics who are the three seed right now. What do you mean they’re the three seed without Jason Tam at all this season? No more Drew Holiday, Porzingis, Al Horford, guys that were lynchpin staples of this team for the last few years. And it hasn’t mattered because guys like Jordan Walsh and Josh Mina and Nimas Kada have stepped up and Peyton Pritchard and Anthony Simons and Jaylen Brown is the one option on the second best offense in all of basketball. Like how how is that the reality that we’re in at this point? They’ve been so overwhelmingly good as of late. And I talked about that in a recent video. The Celtics should not be this good because they really shouldn’t. And now I’m looking at them with the fifth best net rating in basketball as the three seed, one of the hottest teams in the sport. And I’m like, if Jason Tatum comes back and looks like 80% of himself, especially if they make like some type of upgrade at the deadline, which with Anthony Simon’s contract, they could absolutely do. Is this just the best team in the Eastern Conference? Could they win the East out of nowhere after nobody really thought they’re going to be a factor? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, and that would be the most insane outcome out of any of them I could have possibly imagined. And then we get to like the Raptors who are the four seed, and they were red-hot for so long uh that they’ve really started to struggle. They’ve lost their last three games. They’re 1 and5 in their last six games with a net rating of -10.3. They have been one of the worst offenses and defense over the six game stretch. All after winning nine straight games. I’ve got no idea how to feel about this team because at some points Brandon Ingram is being this elite number one option and he’s hitting big shots and Scotty stepping up and they look super complimentary and cohesive as this wing forward duo and then Emanuel Quickley is doing his thing. you’re getting some great defense from like a Yaka Ple and role players are stepping up and it’s like wow this is a pretty decent team on both sides of the ball. Dark Rayakovic seems like a pretty good coach and then other games it’s like they can’t create a shot for anything. They can’t hit an outside shot. Also they’re not defending anybody and now they’ve lost the Hornets like two times in the last five games. They are one of the most inconsistent teams in the NBA so far this season going from one of the highest highs to one of the lowest lows. I still think they’re a good team but if it’s quickly gone from hey maybe they could win a playoff series to I really don’t know what to make of them. They’re one of those teams that really feels like they could get into a freef fall if they don’t figure this thing out quick. But there are other teams that are struggling too, like the Miami Heat, who were really, really good and now they’ve lost three straight games. That super unique, weird offense has still been working at times, but it’s not been as effective. It feels like teams have somewhat figured it out. Some Heat fans are blaming Tyler Hero coming back, but I don’t really think it’s his fault that this team has started to kind of struggle offensively. Not to mention, the defense also hasn’t been ideal. They give up like 130 points to the Kings last game. It just feels like we’re seeing a little bit of the early season magic wear off for a couple of these teams like the Raptors, like for the Miami Heat. Uh the Sixers started the season like 5-0. They’re 13-10 now. And I also have no idea what to think about them because like Maxi has been unbelievable. He has been an allNBA level player. VG Edgecom had some huge flashes early season and still has, but he’s definitely cooled off a little bit. McCain is still finding his footing. PG has been pretty good in a majority of the games that he’s played. so far since coming back from injury, but there are still ones where he really doesn’t look that convincing. Joel Embiid, a couple games where he’s been great, but a majority of nights he just doesn’t look like Joel Embiid anymore. And if he’s not Joel Embiid, which he’s never going to be MVP level and beat again, that’s not what we’re going to see. But if he can at least be like allstar, borderline all NBA, then this is suddenly one of the scarier teams in the East. And I just don’t know if he’s got that anymore. Plus, I continue to get so angry watching this team try and execute in the clutch. Sometimes they’ll have these huge clutch heroic wins like against the Warriors where VJ Edgecom gets the putback and Maxi gets the block. But then a lot of other nights it’s Nick Nurse saying, “Oh, please Tyres Maxi go save us.” Like he writes down on his whiteboard, “Tyres Maxi, go save us, please.” It just doesn’t work a lot of times because Maxi, as great of a player as he is, doesn’t really have that in between game all that much. Like he’s a knockdown three-point shooter. He’s super quick, but when the defense really keys in on him in those half court moments and he kind of tunnel visions a little, the offense gets stagnant and he’s, you know, still learning. This is one of the first times where he’s been the bonafide number one option for the full season. Like it is clearly Tyres Maxis’s team at this point. It’s going to take some time for him and Nick Nurse and the rest of the guys to figure this thing out, but they don’t have a lot of time because they they kind of have to keep pace in this Eastern Conference, which so far, I mean, they’ve managed to do like again, they’re only one and a half games out of the three seed. And it also feels like every single game they’ve played has been a clutch one. And Maxi playing 40 plus minutes, I don’t think is sustainable. So yeah, I I don’t I don’t know. The Sixers were kind of the mystery box of these coming into this season. I had faith in them, but it’s like, you know, is it crazy to have faith? And I still don’t really know what the answer is to this squad. But the Cleveland Cavaliers are maybe my most disappointing team in the entire NBA this season. I really thought Cleveland was going to be the the clear best team in the Eastern Conference this year. even if they didn’t grab the one seed, I I thought by the end of the season everybody’s going to be like, “Yeah, the Cavs are kind of on a new level and Evan Moley’s taking this jump.” Just not been the case whatsoever. Uh he’s been disappointing. Mitchell’s been awesome. I mean, Donovan Mitchell is having the best statistical season of his career right now. But outside of him, it’s like Garland is on the court sometimes and he’s not looked great so far. He’s definitely not found a rhythm. And like Jaylen Tyson’s been great as a role player. The team as a whole doesn’t feel that sound on either end. they feel nowhere near as dynamic offensively and defensively. Uh there like sometimes where it’s like, yeah, there was Cleveland’s defense, the really good one from the beginning of last season, and a lot of other nights it’s like, oh, here’s the Cavs defense from the end of last season where it was not very good. I mean, they’re top 10 on both sides of the ball still, but it’s not translating to wins. And I have to continue to hope that when they get healthier and they get a bit of a rhythm, this will look more like the Cavs team I was expecting. But I I was really in the camp that yeah, the Cavs were going to win the Eastern Conference. maybe like the Knicks could take them down or some team comes out of the blue like a Magic or a Hawks we’ll talk about in a moment and they really put it together and the Cavs don’t get it done but the very minimum they’re a conference finals team that might not be the case and if it’s not the case then they have to go ahead and make major changes this offseason because that would be a historic disappointment in my eyes. Speaking of the Atlanta Hawks, they’re the last team kind of rounding out this nine team bubble in the Eastern Conference. Uh Atlanta is another one of those squads that start off really struggling. they’ve kind of found their footing without Trey Young and that’s a huge thing that plays into the Atlanta Hawks is are they just better without Trey Young? Is that actually a thing? And he’s expiring. So, do they go ahead and try and trade him? Do they let him walk? They could definitely still use some playmaking, some creation in the half court that’s been an issue at times. But Jaylen Johnson has evolved into this elite point forward. He’s a walking triple double. He’s a really solid defender. He’s not only an all-star, but he is an AllNBA level player so far this season. Uh you’ve got Anaka Kungu kind of doing career best stuff. Dyson Daniels is still an elite defender and kill Alexander Walker has given you the best season of his career. Ree Sasha has been disappointing. Like he’s definitely been a disappointment for me. I thought there was going to be, you know, a potential jump to be a really good role player this season for Zack, but it’s just not really come to fruition to the point where I’m a little bit worried about his future. Like, he’s still really young. Sophomore slumps happen all the time. I’m definitely not going to say it’s over and that he’s this complete bust, but you know, especially in a weak draft class, the Hawks really could have used getting it right at the number one overall pick. I’m not going to put it all on him. And I do think Trey coming back, like Trey is someone who I think will actually really help Zach. But so far, I mean, he’s just been thoroughly outplayed by a number of other guys on the roster. Like there is real depth on this Hawks team. And I feel like Trey coming back will ultimately help them because they’ve only been a middle-ofthe-pack offense on the season, but defensively they’ve held up. They’ve been top 10. So maybe Trey hurts that. I don’t know. They’re one of the most intriguing teams in all of the NBA because it’s like, wow, if they get Porzingis and Trey and everybody on the court together, this looks like a legitimate squad that could make a push because nobody feels super convincing right now, but otherwise, like, does Trey ruin everything and suddenly they have to trade him? And that really is the crux of everything is the thing that I mentioned that nobody looks super convincing. Like again, the Pistons look really good, but they don’t have a lot of experience and that is something that plays in and it is also very early season. and the Knicks feel like a natural squad that should be competing towards the top, but I do worry about that defense and some of the clunkiness we’ve seen with them adjusting to Mike Brown’s system and the lack of depth. The Celtics, but when Jason Tatum comes back, how good is he going to look? If he looks like himself, we’re talking about maybe the favorites in the Eastern Conference in a year that was supposed to be a pivot year where I I thought I think I did a bold takes video and I’m like, could the Celtics get the number one overall pick because they just bought him out? No, they might win the whole Eastern Conference, but maybe Tatum does come back and he doesn’t look that great. And also they lost the Knicks in the playoffs last year anyways. So would they beat them this time? The Raptors like they’ve either been the hottest team in the NBA or the coldest. The Magic finally started to get it going a little bit, but they can’t get anybody healthy. The Miami Heat has their new offense been figured out. The Sixers, what do they even do from here? Like do they find a way to trade Jordan? Is he ever going to be himself? And can anybody step up to help Tyrese Maxi who’s taken this legitimate jump into an allNBA like bonafide player? The Cavaliers are super disappointing. And then there’s the Atlanta Hawks. I don’t really know what they’re going to look like when Trey Young comes back. And even below them, like Milwaukee is the 10 seed. Then it feels like a Giannis trade is looming. The Chicago Bulls were a 5-0 and now they’re 9 and 14 playing actually the worst basketball in all the NBA right now. The Hornets are seven and 17. But even they are only two and a half games back of the Bucks for playing spot. It’s not out of the realm of possibility. And then you’ve got the Nets, Pacers, and the Wizards, all of whom are really bound this season. But even like Michael Porter Jr. is playing great. He’s actually probably got some real trade value now. Uh the Pacers, they’re kind of just, you know, waiting till Hallebertton comes back next season. A top pick would really benefit them. And the Washington Wizards, they’re still in the midst of their rebuild, but honestly, I’ve been disappointed in the play of a lot of their young guys. But Alexar and Keshan George have been super sick so far this season, so credit to them. Um and then I didn’t even mention the Atlanta Hawks might get the number one overall pick from the New Orleans Pelicans. That is also something, too. Uh the Eastern Conference is weird. I’ve got no idea. If you ask me today who’s going to win the Eastern Conference, I don’t really know. I don’t really have an answer for you. Um, maybe the Knicks, maybe the Celtics. I’ve been weirdly feeling that that’s the way things are going to go. Honestly, I feel like Orlando when healthy is one of the more convincing teams, but I just don’t know if that’s ever going to be the case for them. So, I don’t know. I don’t know who’s going to win the Eastern Conference. It confusing me is maybe even underelling it a little bit the way it’s gone so far this season. But, let me know what you think about the East. Who is your favorite right now? Um, and all that type of stuff. How do you feel about your favorite team if they’re in the East at the moment? Uh, so yeah, I kind of talked about the Magic Knicks game a little bit, but we have the Celtics knocking off the Raptors, and it’s kind of what I talked about between these two teams. Uh, the offense for the Celtics was elite, 121 points. They hit 23s. Jaylen Brown, 30 points, 27 from Derek White, both on decent efficiency. And for the Raptors, like they got 30 from Ingram, 18, 11, and eight from Scotty Barnes. But again, they gave up 121 points. Couldn’t really get stops. I mean, they shot 40% from three, but there was only nine of them. It’s just not going to be enough in today’s NBA to get consistent wins and that is kind of the worry. The Nuggets beat the Hornets 115 to 106. Jamal Murray looks like he might be a firsttime all-star this year with 34 on 56% shooting. Had that big 50 bomb a few nights ago. He’s having the best season of his career pretty clearly right now. Yogic had 289 and 11. He was again awesome unsurprisingly. Uh the Hornet side just inefficient offense. 30% from three. Not really going to cut it against an offense as potent as the Denver Nuggets. You’re not going to keep up. The Grizzlies beat up on the Blazers 119 to 96. Portland is pretty beat up. They’re dealing with some injuries. No Donovan Klingan, no Robert Williams uh in this one. So, and of course, no Drew Holiday still. So, their starting lineup was City Soka, Denny Avdia, Timuni Kamara, Jeremy Grant, and Hansen Yang. Didn’t really go super well for them. They just couldn’t put up points at all. And defensively, they couldn’t really stop anything. The defense has been super underwhelming for them. But again, they’re missing some of their biggest pieces on that end. So, I’m not super surprised. Uh the Warriors blow out the Chicago Bulls who again the Bulls are playing some of the worst basketball in the NBA. But the Warriors Jimmy Butler is back in this one. Had 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists. You got 19 from Quinton Post. You got 12 from Pat Spencer who’s been so good as of late. 21 eight rebounds and seven assists from Brighton PMK who’s really starting to figure it out on the season. And for Chicago, I don’t really have a lot to say. They’re they’re just they’re just pretty bad. Kind of like we expected this season. The Lakers beat the Sixers 112 to 108. LeBron is kind of back 297 and six from him and he took over down the stretch. Kind of single-handedly willed them to a win because not a great shooting game from either Austin Reeves or Luca. Nine of 24 from Luca although he did have 315 and 11. Oh my gosh. And then Austin Ree only had 11 points, three of 16 shooting. Like it was a a decent performance for the Sixers defensively, just offensively. 35% from the field, 36% from three. Embiid was four of 21. Again, I don’t know if we’re going to get Joel Embiid back the way that they really need him to to be an actual threat in this Eastern Conference. Maxi shot 11 of 24, but did finish with 28 points and nine dimes. Drum gave them 11 and 12. VJ Edcom at 15 points. Jer McCain eight points, you know, still trying to find his footing a little bit since coming back from injury. But yeah, just the Sixers, they they tried, but honestly, it was just kind of LeBron being LeBron in the end, which is good to see after the 10-point streak ended. And I made a video recently saying that the LeBron era might be over. Apparently, he might have seen that. And then finally, the Thunder blow out the Jazz 131 to 101. No Shay, Isaiah Hartinstein, Dor Caruso, or Isaiah Joe in this game. Didn’t really matter. Chad Homegrren 25 and N easy all-star lock. Not even a question. Jim Williams trying to make a late case although he missed a bunch of games, so I’m not sure he quite gets there, but 25 38 and two. Both of them on really, really good efficiency. 58 from JDub, 80% from Chad. And specifically for Cadet, it’s crazy the offensive jump that he has taken. I mean, it was expected. I knew he was going to be way better offensively this season. Anybody who watched him pre-injjury last year knew that. But it’s it’s just cool to really see it come to fruition. You got a really good game from Brandon Carlson, 19 from Aaron Wiggins, 11 from Cambridge Williams. Everybody played really well. And on the Jazz side, Kyle Filpowski 21-10, he was pretty good, but without Larry Markin, they really just didn’t stand a chance. And Keonte George really struggled against this defense. Eight points, six turnovers, three of 12 shooting. Yeah, that’s the game or those are the games in the NBA tonight. But specifically, those are my thoughts on the Eastern Conference. Let me know your takeaways, your thoughts on the East right now. If I told you a million dollars, you had to put a million dollars that I gave to you on any team in the East right now, who is your pick and why? Who do you feel the most confident in? Leave a like, subscribe if you enjoyed, hit the notification bell so you don’t miss out on future videos. I appreciate y’all. I’ll see youall later. Real one say back.

The NBA’s Eastern Conference is a mess this season with the Detroit Pistons at the helm, the New York Knicks being good but somewhat unconvincing at times, the Boston Celtics being shockingly good, the Cleveland Cavaliers being shockingly bad, and teams like the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers all in the mix in the middle. This on top of the Milwaukee Bucks readying to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Indiana Pacers being a disaster without Tyrese Haliburton has the East in one of the most interesting spots it’s ever been in and completely up for grabs.

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0:00 – Intro
0:45 – Are the Pistons legit title threats?
2:38 – Are the Knicks actually contenders?
4:10 – Can the Magic ever stay healthy?
5:32 – Is it actually the Celtics’ year?
6:33 – Are the Raptors falling off?
7:39 – Are the Heat falling off?
8:12 – Who are the Sixers actually?
10:09 – Are the Cavaliers just cooked?
11:27 – Are the Hawks better without Trae?
13:10 – Who is the East favorite?
14:24 – The bottom feeders
15:44 – The rest of the NBA
19:24 – Outro