The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of their best stretch of basketball as they have won four of six games. Where do they stand against the rest of the Eastern Conference?
Last month at this time the Cleveland Cavaliers were heading in the wrong direction. A month later and they have found a little juice with a minor rotation change. That minor rotation change is likely going to turn into a major rotation change as the Cavaliers dealt Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz.
Cleveland is currently playing their best basketball of the season as they have won four of their last six games with their only two losses coming against two of the best teams in the conference, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors.
The Cavs were 13th in last month’s Eastern Conference power rankings, where do they stand this month after their excellent stretch of play?
#15 – Atlanta Hawks
Record – 6-25
Current streak – lost 8
The Atlanta Hawks had playoff aspirations on as opening night approached. Injuries to key players like Trae Young and Kevin Huerter and a 25-game suspension for John Collins has torpedoed Atlanta to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
Collins returned last night against the Cavaliers and was very effective with 27 points and 10 rebounds but it still wasn’t enough as they dropped their eighth straight contest.
Atlanta currently has the worst record in the entire NBA and they are 7.5 games behind the Orlando Magic for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They could get things together and down the stretch of the season but a playoff spot is well beyond their reach.
They are 1-9 in their last 10 games and have an NBA worst -9.8 point differential per night according to ESPN.com.
#14 – New York Knicks
Record – 7-24
Current streak – lost 3
The New York Knicks are a trainwreck. They fired David Fizdale after hoisting unrealistic expectations on him with the roster he was provided with.
The Knicks have gotten solid play from Julius Randle, his numbers are down from last year but he still has per-game averages of 17.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per Basketball-Reference.
They haven’t gotten much from anyone else, however. Marcus Morris leads them in scoring at 18.4 points per game but he is shooting just 43.1% from the field according to Basketball-Reference.
The Knicks are 3-7 over their last 10 games and have a -9.2 point differential which is second-worst in the NBA.
#13 – Detroit Pistons
Record – 11-20
Current streak – lost 5
The Detroit Pistons are only 2.5 games out of the eighth spot in the East. However, they are playing terrible over the last two weeks.
They have lost their last five games by an average margin of 15.2 points per night. To make matters worse, Blake Griffin is having the worst year of his career. According to Basketball-Reference, he is averaging just 15.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting an atrocious 35.9% from the field.
Detroit is going to have to quickly turn it around or they will keep dropping towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference.