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Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Eastern Conference at 44-10
SportsGrid
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2/20/2025
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Sports
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00:00
JYU highlighted the Cleveland Cavaliers, a 9-1 price, a 44-10 record for Cleveland this year,
00:06
a 5.5 game advantage over the Celtics, the reigning champs, to be that one seed in the
00:13
Eastern Conference. And as we have shared, there's only about 25 games left this season.
00:17
It's hard to make up that much ground, a 5.5 game lead, even though we are just at the All-Star
00:24
break. So the Cavaliers could be a test for Boston. Is Cleveland the best challenger for
00:30
the Seeds, who are a minus-150 favorite to win the Eastern Conference crown again?
00:35
Or could it be somebody else, maybe even your New York Knicks?
00:40
Well, I'm going to preface it by saying this. If the Knicks can get healthy, right, OG and
00:45
Nobby had the toe injury, looks like he's back. To me, guys, it's Mitchell Robinson.
00:50
Now, people are going to be saying, Mitchell Robinson is a big difference-maker?
00:54
Absolutely. You're talking about the premier offensive rebounder league member. In his first
00:59
15 games last year, him and Dennis Rodman were the only two guys to get 3-plus-0 boards a game.
01:04
He gives you extra possessions. He's also a great rim protector and shot blocker,
01:09
and we've seen Cat be a better defender, ready, lined up with a shot-blocking 5.
01:16
Think of Rudy Gobert. If you think about the Western Conference, that's why a guy like
01:20
Jared Jackson Jr. is better defensively next to a Zach Eaddy, or back in the day,
01:24
next to a Stephen Adams. So if Mitchell Robinson is healthy and they get OG back,
01:30
I think the Knicks could become the biggest contenders to Cleveland because when Cleveland
01:36
sees Mitchell Robinson, that kid beats up those two bigs inside. I think the Knicks, if healthy,
01:42
stand-alone is their biggest contender. But the problem with the Knicks, Ben, you know this,
01:46
they have to show up, a typical team, think about this, on the defensive end of the floor,
01:52
and I think that's where Mitchell Robinson can kind of catch up with a lot of your mistakes
01:56
because if you funnel teams to the rim, you've got a really big, dumb shot-blocker or rebounder
02:00
to protect you down low. Coach, talk to me here about the Milwaukee Bucks at this point. Giannis
02:05
obviously banged up a little bit coming back. Still have Damian Lillard. Could they be a
02:08
factor in the Eastern Conference playoffs, maybe even making an Eastern Conference Finals run for
02:12
you? I don't think so because my concern with them is the defensive side of the ball and the
02:18
ability to stop players. I know Andre Jackson has become their de facto defender, and to me,
02:24
the Kyle Kuzma trade was like the Bucks trying to win now, win later. And I'm concerned about
02:33
their age there. If you were to tell me a team in the East to watch out for, I know they have been
02:40
really bad, but they've battled injuries. If Orlando can get it right and they struggle to
02:46
shoot the ball, that is a team that will get you in an absolute dogfight defensively. And they
02:53
played Jamal Mosley's team as hard as anybody in the league. Bankera, Wagner, they can stay healthy
02:59
and they can shoot the ball a little bit better. That team's as good as they are defensively in
03:03
the Eastern Conference, and they could give teams fits in the playoffs, including the Knicks,
03:09
if they get to the sixth seed.
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