“There’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, then there’s everybody else.”
That trending thought is accurate. As long as LeBron James is in Cleveland, the Cavaliers will remain the best team in the Eastern Conference. But the gap is closing.
The tier below Cleveland is ambiguous. On paper, the Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics match up well against each other and none of the mentioned teams are clearly better than the competition.
Washington, though, is quickly beginning to rise above the rest.
On Friday night against the Indiana Pacers, who have three less wins than Washington, the Wizards returned home after squandering a 17-game winning streak in the Verizon Center to Cleveland.