With the Celtics cruising to an incredible start to take command of the Eastern Conference and the Pistons re-asserting their stake as an elite team, the Eastern Conference Finals appear to be set. The teams have split two exciting regular season meetings already with the road team emerging victorious in both and the gap between Detroit and the current #3 team in the conference Orlando is close to five games.

The Magic had a hot start but are starting to show some weaknesses and appear to be a nice turnaround story, but hardly a deep playoff threat. The Heat theoretically would be a playoff threat with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal but that is a miracle short of happening with Miami’s 9-34 record. The Bulls were supposed to be the next ‘it’ team in the Eastern Conference but injuries and turmoil have ruined their season. Toronto and Washington have nice teams but both struggle away from home and appear to be strong candidates for first round exits. So that’s about it in the Eastern Conference right?

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The forgotten team is of course, last year’s Eastern Conference champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland is 24-19 as we approach the halfway point of the season. The Cavs are pretty much a lock to make the playoffs, but sitting seven games behind Detroit in the Central Division means that the bracket may not lineup favorably. However, don’t forget that the Cavs did not win the division last season either and it is certainly a strong possibility that Cavs will be a very tough out in playoffs. Cleveland is likely a better team than the current record indicates and a great finish should be expected.

Only Boston and Detroit have better home records than Cleveland in the Eastern Conference and recall that last season Cleveland went 7-1 at home in the playoffs before the NBA Finals. Through 43 games last season Cleveland was remarkably also 24-19. The Cavs then went on a 26-13 run to finish the season starting in February and then stormed through the Eastern Conference in the playoffs. Cleveland was the #2 seed last year but the Cavs would certainly be a tough draw if they can move up to the #3 seed by the end of the season or would pose a very big threat to Boston in a second round match-up if they stayed in the #4-5 slots.

The Cavs still own the top player in the conference with LeBron James. In his fifth NBA season, James is averaging just shy of 30 points per game while also increasing his rebounding and assist averages from a year ago. Chris Paul is generating a lot of attention and with the incredible turnaround for the Hornets and he rightfully deserves some MVP consideration, but from a numbers standpoint there’s really no comparison between James and any of the other elite players in the league.