For a generation, being a quality Eastern Conference team has meant guaranteed passage into the NBA postseason.
Unlike its Western counterpart, where good teams routinely have been left out of the playoff picture, the East -- since the Charlotte Hornets reentered the league in 2004, bringing the NBA to its current 30 teams -- has seen a below .500 team make the playoffs eight of those 18 seasons and a four-win gap between the average fourth-best team in each conference, and a five-win gap between the average eighth-best team.
Those days, however, are over.
Teams will routinely have stretches like the one the Toronto Raptors are enduring to open 2022-23: seven consecutive games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat (twice), Philadelphia 76ers (twice) and Atlanta Hawks.