Fansided

NBA: The 8 Eastern Conference Teams Making The Playoffs

By Carlos Nazario

Oct 14, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) smiles during a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 14, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) smiles during a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (56-26)

No other team in the NBA underwent the transformation that the Cavs did. They have a new coach, David Blatt, who is coming over from Israel. They added Brendan Haywood, James Jones, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and Kevin Love. Oh, did I forget to mention they also got the greatest basketball player on the planet today? Some guy named LeBron James.

Add point guard Kyrie Irving to this list of players, and you have one of the top teams in the NBA. The Cavaliers are hoping that the big three of Irving, Love and James can bring the same success as the big three James was a part of in Miami.

This is a great team, yes, but there will be growing pains. Even the great team in Miami didn’t win a title in their first year (though they did win the Eastern Conference). Blatt will also have an adjustment to make coaching in the NBA, which is a little different from Israel.

Offensively, this should be a great team. LeBron can score almost at will, and Love will put up points. Then they have Jones and Miller who will be shooting threes, and Irving directing all traffic.

Irving will need to stay healthy. He signed a new deal this summer and will have to show he deserves that money. He needs to stay healthy as well, which has been a problem for him.

Defensively, the Cavs may have a problem. Love is a great rebounder, but he has trouble staying on his man. This is the area in which the growing pains will be at their most difficult. While they are trying to figure out who does what, another team will be shutting down their opponents. The time taken for the Cavs to figure things out may cost them the East to this team:

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