Before the 2025-26 NBA season started, everyone had the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks destined to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. They were believed to be head and shoulders better than the rest of the East. Things are never that simple.
With the well-documented injury setbacks for the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, there was a power vacuum. It was understandable why people immediately gravitated to the Cavaliers and Knicks in the process, but more threats always were bound to emerge.
Some suspected the Atlanta Hawks would join the pair. Others thought it might be the Orlando Magic.
To the surprise of certain basketball viewers, the early parts of the new campaign have revealed the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors as the early frontrunners to play spoiler to a potential Cavaliers-Knicks matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both of them need to be taken seriously.
Pistons and Raptors quickly emerging as formidable Cavaliers foes
The Pistons are enjoying a spot at the top of the Eastern Conference with a strong 13-2 start, currently riding an 11-game winning streak. After a strong 2024-25 campaign with 44 wins and a playoff spot, Detroit was somehow ignored in the offseason discussions.
That is surprising, in hindsight, considering the strong first-round battle they had with the Knicks in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. The Pistons have quickly proven that was no fluke.
Cade Cunningham continues to play the part of franchise cornerstone extremely well. The Pistons superstar has averaged 27.3 points, 9.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game thus far.
The big surprise has been Jalen Duren. The Pistons center has confidently arrived on the scene in his fourth NBA season, averaging 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game, shooting 67.4 percent from the field.
Couple those two with an elite defensive unit and it is understandable why the Pistons have been as good as they are to start 2025-26.
The Raptors have had the more unexpected leap, purely in terms of what their record was last year. However, this one should have been fairly predictable too.
The Cavaliers certainly do not need to be convinced about this Raptors team. The two sides have already met twice for a head-to-head in 2025-26 and both meetings resulted in double-digit road wins for Toronto.
It was a slow start for the Raptors, getting off to a 1-4 record in their first five games. Toronto quickly rebounded to win nine of the next 10 games, with the sole loss coming against the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 8 to break up two separate winning streaks.
Adding a former All-Star in Brandon Ingram has quickly proved to be a strong trade for the Raptors. Scottie Barnes has gotten better as well, shining on the defensive end particularly. The very underrated pickup of Sandro Mamukelashvili
deserves some love too.
Cleveland will certainly fancy themselves a contender. Their current roster was built with playoff basketball in mind, unlike last season. There should be no shortage of confidence for the Cavs, but that does not mean they should ignore the signs of caution around them.