Reason No. 3: The Cavaliers have a deeper team
The Philadelphia 76ers have the best player on either of these two rosters; that doesn’t seem like a hot take. Joell Embiid is a legitimate MVP candidate for the third consecutive season and destroys anyone he plays, Cleveland included. From there, the Sixers might also have the second-best player; it’s a reasonable conversation between James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
What is also not a hot take is that the Cavs have four of the best six players on these two rosters. That level of “star depth” allows this team to weather an injury to a key player. If Mitchell is hurt, Darius Garland is also an elite perimeter creator and playmaker. If Jarrett Allen is hurt, Evan Mobley is one of the league’s best rim protectors to step in (and he is much more capable to filling in than he was as a rookie last year when Allen was hurt).
If Embiid gets hurts, the Sixers don’t have anyone to turn to. Montrezl Harrell can score but he is taking a lot away defensively; Paul Reed is completely outside of the rotation and is an energy big, not a hulking behemoth in the paint. James Harden can shoulder some more offensive load, but the Sixers would really struggle to play without Embiid. They can better weather a Harden injury with Tyrese Maxey, but he’s a huge target on defense and has been best deployed off of the bench.
The Cavs don’t have one single player who would cripple them if they lost them, and the Sixers do. They can better weather any potential injuries down the stretch. Neither of these teams will win it all without their core healthy, but short-term injuries are something the Cavs can handle as well as anyone in the league.
None of these factors make it a lock that the Cavaliers will catch the 76ers, but they all help to make the case. If both teams continue at their current level of play, against their respective schedules, and factoring in the chance of injury, Cleveland has a great shot to close the three-game gap and finish in third in the Eastern Conference.