Why the Cleveland Cavaliers Will (or Won't) Repeat as East Champions

In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers have the 4th seed all but in their pockets. With the splits in the East being so large, the possibility of them moving up or down has been virtually non-existent for at least a week now.

With so little at stake in the last few weeks of the regular season, many Cleveland fans are simply waiting for the playoffs to start. They're hoping that these next couple weeks will allow the team to become healthy and develop the chemistry that's been lacking since the February trade.

In the meantime, I've taken the liberty of gathering several interesting facts and statistics that both support and challenge the possibilty of the Cleveland Cavaliers repeating as Eastern Conference Champions.

First Round - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards/Toronto Raptors

For

The Cavs went 3-1 in their regular season series against the Raptors and their only loss came on a night when LeBron was not playing.

The Cavs went 2-2 in their regular season series against the Wizards and one of those losses came on a night when LeBron was not playing. Both of them were away games on the second night of a back-to-back. One of the wins was immediately following the February trade when the four new players acquired by the Cavs were not yet cleared to play.

Cleveland will have home court advantage in the series and has done particularly well at home. Since the trade, they are 9-1 at home.

Against

The Wizards went 2-2 against the Cavs this year. At least one of those losses was when they were suffering from numerous injuries to their starting lineup. 

The Wizards have made a late season surge to take the 5th seed from Toronto. They are obviously getting healthier and gaining momentum. They will probably continue to get better as they await Gilbert Arenas' return.

Conclusion: Unless Arenas can shake off the rust quickly and provide a major spark for the Wizards, they're likely to find themselves losing to the Cavs in the first round for the second year in a row. If it's the Raptors, then Cleveland wins in 5. If Washington, then Cleveland wins in 6.

Round 2 (Semifinals) - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics

For

If anyone can beat Boston, the Cavs look like the team to do it. 

The Cavs went 2-2 in their regular season series against the Celtics, being one of only 3 teams who can claim to have beaten them twice this year. One of the losses against Boston came when LeBron was not playing. The second loss came on the second night of a back-to-back. Boston has always had at least one day of rest before playing Cleveland this season.

The Celtics have a 22-13 record against above-500 teams, meaning 39% of their wins and 87% of their losses have come to teams that currently have a winning record. Of their 15 total losses, 10 have come against Eastern Conference Teams.

Comparitively, the Cavaliers have a 17-21 record against teams above .500. 43% of their wins and only 66% of their losses came against teams above .500. 

Against

Boston went 2-2 in their regular season series against the Cavs. One of those losses came on a night when Kevin Garnett was not playing.

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