Eastern Conference Cushion Giving Cavs, Other Contenders, Time to Come Together
There was a natural counter to any and all concerns about the Cleveland Cavaliers' chemistry and consistency early in the 2014-15 season:
Geography.
The statistics of the greatest correlation to Cleveland's ability to gather itself aren't LeBron James' shooting percentage or Kevin Love's rebounding average or Kyrie Irving's assist-to-turnover ratio, as much as those may matter.
Rather, they're the two that won't change.
Longitude of 41.505493.
Latitude of -81.681290.
Those numbers, representing the city of Cleveland's location on a map, stick the Cavaliers squarely in the Eastern Conference. Those numbers have bought Cleveland time, to quell some early controversies, to sort through rotations, to find its bearings as the critics bear down.
Those numbers are what may propel the talented Cavaliers, if they develop cohesion, to a devastating stretch, such as when the 2010-11 Miami Heat, after their 9-8 start, won 21 of their next 22, with a 12-0 record against the East during that romp.
Consider that when Cleveland fell to 5-7, just over a week ago, it was still seventh in the East standings, still technically in the top half, still in comically little danger of being trampled by any of the teams below. And now, after beating three straight East teams—of which only Washington is any threat to contend—the Cavaliers have a chance to become part of the conference's thin upper crust.
Already 6-3 against the East, compared to 2-4 against the West, Cleveland plays eight of its next 10 against East opponents, starting with the overachieving Bucks and sad-sack Knicks, and with the two toughest tests, against Toronto, made less challenging by the injury-related absence of top scorer DeMar DeRozan.
The Cavaliers need not apologize for their fine geographical fortune. It is what it was, and what it has been for a while now, and what, at this point, it may well be forever.
It's not exactly news that the West is superior to the East; to continue to insist that it's just a temporary cycle is akin to asserting that, eventually, Yuma will get more snow than Stowe because eventually everything evens out. At this point, the conference chasm is a largely unexplainable, but widely accepted, phenomenon. Like Big Brother surviving 16 seasons, or Drew Carey being classified as a comedian, or people stopping to stand in front of an escalator.
"I have no idea. It's just one of those things, I guess," center Andrew Bogut, now of the 14-2 Golden State Warriors, recently told Bleacher Report. "You look at the coaching styles of the East, they're more grind-it-out, low-scoring; the West is more running. And the East is cold and gloomy, so they want to grind out wins, I don't know what it is, man. It's interesting, it really is. I don't think there's anything you can put your finger on, though."
Others have pointed to a fortuitous run of draft choices, superior development, more openness to the international game and those players (spearheaded by San Antonio), and even the fruit borne from tougher nightly competition. Whatever it is, the West has won 11 of the past 16 titles, but that doesn't adequately quantify the inequity. No, you won't find many good explanations, but you will find some exasperation, on the part of those now on the other side of the equation. Like Bogut, formerly a Buck and resident of the inferior East.
"It's starting to get ridiculous," Bogut said.
Actually, similar to the Fast and Furious movie series, it's been ridiculous for some time.
"Even when I was a rookie," said Heat center Chris Bosh, who broke into the NBA in 2003-04.
Even further back.
Consider that, in each of the past 15 seasons, the eighth seed in the West has won more games than the eighth seed in the East and, generally, not by a small number. Even with just a one-game difference in the lockout-shortened season of 2011-12, the average difference is 5.8 games per season; at least one East playoff team has been at or under .500 in 10 of the past 15 seasons, while that hasn't happened in the West once during that time. No eighth seed in the past 15 seasons has won more than 42 games in the East, while the Phoenix Suns missed the playoffs with 48 victories last season.
This season is headed down the same two-tiered track. Indiana ended Monday night in the eighth spot, with a 7-10 record, while Sacramento and Denver were outside the West's playoff pool at 9-8.
At this point, the disparity has significantly altered the mentality. The West may have more of a laid-back reputation when it comes to lifestyle, but not relative to basketball, not even when the Spurs—who have their system down to such a science that they can win 50 games while resting stars at random—are included.
East teams know they have more breathing room because, typically, at least four or five teams simply can't be taken especially seriously in the conference's playoff chase. So they can take more time nursing their key players back to health without fear of irreversible slippage in the standings. First, they're playing fewer games against the West due to the imbalanced schedule. And second, they won't lose complete touch with the conference leaders, even if their best players are out.
Derrick Rose missed eight of the Bulls' first 17 games and Dwyane Wade missed seven straight for the Heat, and yet, as of Monday night, their teams stood in third and seventh, respectively, in the conference. Still, each felt reasonably good about their positions—the Bulls are 5-0 with their regular starting lineup, and the Heat are 6-4 when Wade plays.
Washington was without Bradley Beal for its first nine games of the season but won seven of them, mostly because all nine were against the East. Toronto may fall out of the top two if DeRozan misses as much as a month due to his torn groin tendon, especially since the Raptors close December with a road trip that takes them through Chicago, Los Angeles (Clippers), Denver and Portland.
But even if Toronto lost all 15 of its December games without him, it might not slip out of the top spot in the Atlantic Division, not when the alternatives are the Nets, Celtics, Knicks and 76ers, a combined 14-50 following Monday's play.
Compare those circumstances to what Oklahoma City has encountered. The Thunder couldn't wait much longer to bring Russell Westbrook back, not with Kevin Durant also out, and not after going 4-10 in his absence. Even after routing the Knicks, the Thunder were six games out of a playoff spot in the West. In the East, they would have been two back.
These comfortable circumstances lead to some complacency, for sure. It certainly did for James' Heat last season, as they struggled to summon sufficient energy when they knew that only the then-intact Indiana Pacers had any shot to unseat them as the No. 1 seed—and even that didn't matter that much.
But for James' Cavaliers, with so many new components, as well as a coach in David Blatt who is entirely new to the NBA, it's been exactly what they needed at this stage. It's why Blatt can keep experimenting with his lineup, having recently hinted at a lineup change, and why he can expose second-rounder Joe Harris to significant minutes. It's why when James followed Aaron Rodgers' lead, telling his Twitter followers to "RELAX" after a 1-3 start, the capital letters were absolutely necessary, and an exclamation point was appropriate as well.
Losing a few games in the West is a capital crime, running the risk of a season's death; losing them in the East is a misdemeanor, with the punishment probationary at most.
"Will there be a point where the league looks at maybe going 1 vs. 16?" Bogut said, referring to open seeding, not based on conference. "I don't think it's a bad idea. You just go to a 2-3-2 [home-road] format or even a 2-2-1, five games in the first round maybe. I think it would be better. I mean, the flights aren't that big a deal like they were back in the day. Just space the games out a little more, make the playoffs last a little more, I think it'd be great.
"There are some teams coming out of the East that probably wouldn't come out of the first round in the West, it's just the way it goes. Hopefully, the NBA will balance it out eventually."
Since it won't seem to balance itself.
"I think it'll eventually happen," Bosh said. "Because more of this. ... I mean, you got to reward the teams that are winning. And I think that will make every game a little more interesting, and it will make it tougher, which will make for great TV because they will just be knocking each other off. And you will get the best bona fide teams, there will never be an argument. And conference finals, or I don't know what they'll call it, you won't get Miami-Indiana for eight years in a row."
Last season, without conferences, James, Bosh and the Heat would have been a sixth overall seed, facing 11th-seeded Toronto in the first round. If they'd won, they might have faced the third-seeded Clippers in the second round and the second-seeded Thunder in the "conference finals," both without home-court advantage, all just to get to San Antonio. Bosh acknowledged that the Heat might have played harder to avoid that gauntlet, "because it would mean something," rather than cruising into position to face Charlotte, Brooklyn and Indiana like they did.
But that hasn't happened yet, and it probably won't happen anytime soon.
So, until then?
"Hey, man, I love the East," Bosh said, laughing.
That's one thing he and the Cavaliers have in common.
Ethan Skolnick covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @EthanJSkolnick
