There hasn't been much suspense at the top of the Eastern Conference this season. Since opening night, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been perched atop the table, getting marginally further away from the rest of the pack as the season has progressed. Now, closing in on April, the Cavs have a 4.5-game stiff-arm on the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics, who are blisteringly hot in March.
As of March 27th, the Cavaliers magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed in the East is six.
What is a magic number?
While the phrase is used more often in baseball, the idea is applicable in all sports; a "magic number" is the combination of wins from the leading team and losses from the trailing necessary to mathematically clinch the spot the leading team is in.
For the Cavs, the magic number being six means that Cleveland and Boston have to combine for six Cavs wins and Celtics losses. If — more likely "when" at this point — that happens, the Cavs will lock down the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, their first conference crown since 2015-16.
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Who will Cleveland play in the first round of the NBA Playoffs?
While the Cavs spot is all but official, their opponent remains a mystery. Okay, not a "mystery" like it's a secret team we don't know exists, but a mystery because the play-in tourney makes it tough to call who the No. 7 and No. 8 seed in the playoffs will be.
The most likely candidates are the Atlanta Hawks (currently No. 7) and the Orlando Magic (currently No. 8).
Cavs fans would almost certainly prefer a first-round rematch with the Magic than a showdown with the Hawks, considering how this Cavs team has fared against Atlanta this season. Cleveland is 1-2 against Atlanta, both of those losses coming within three days of each other in November. A blowout Cavs win in January against the Hawks eased some of that pain, but a first-round matchup against one of the two teams that has beaten Cleveland multiple times this year sounds slightly more sketchy than fans would enjoy.