The Cleveland Cavaliers are usually watching their fellow teams at this time of the season to see who is between them and the bottom of the standings. Can they expect the best lottery odds? Which teams could trip up and win a few games to allow the Cavs to pass them in the race to the bottom?
That’s not the case this season. The Cavs took all of that lottery talent and parlayed it into a strong young core, adding other pieces via trade to build a strong team that is in the mix at the top of the Eastern Conference one season after winning just 22 games. Now the Cavs look at their peers and see title contenders.
The Cavs are among the contenders in the East. What key questions from their rivals will determine how this season turns out?
The Cavs have questions of their own to answer: does Evan Mobley hit a rookie wall? Will Cedi Osman turn back into a pumpkin? How will Darius Garland hold up defensively in the playoffs? Yet looking around, key questions will determine whether they are answering those questions as part of a deep run, or whether they fade down the stretch as their rivals surge.
While there are surely questions that can be asked of every team, including the on-fire Boston Celtics and the versatile Toronto Raptors, let’s pick one question for each of the five Eastern Conference teams that have joined Cleveland in the playoff picture for the past few months.
What are these key questions, why do they matter to the Cavs, and how could they shape the picture of what happens in the Eastern Conference down the stretch and through the playoffs?