The Cleveland Cavaliers need to get back to full strength. Once Jarrett Allen gets back on the court, Kenny Atkinson will take the final stretch of the regular season as his own drawing board to figure out what works and what doesn't for the postseason.
Cade Cunningham's unfortunate injury shook up the entire Eastern Conference picture. There were already some questions about the Detroit Pistons, and not having the former first overall pick on the floor might cost them the top seed.
Even if that's not the case, it looks like the current landscape is favorable for the Cavaliers. In fact, the table looks set to return to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in the post-LeBron James era.
Cavaliers' path to the Eastern Conference Finals is firmly on one side of the bracket
As things stand now, the Cavaliers are sitting on a 42-27 record, 7.5 games behind the top seed. They're two and a half games behind the New York Knicks, and three and a half games behind the Boston Celtics, Detroit's primary threat.
If this is how things end, the Pistons and Cavaliers will end up on the same side of the bracket in the second round. They lack playoff experience, and the Cavs know quite well how much J.B. Bickerstaff struggles to make in-game and in-series adjustments in the postseason. That leaves the door open for a major upset in the semifinals.
Injuries are never good news. The game is always better when the best are on the floor, and even though Cade Cunningham will most likely be healthy in time for the playoffs, it's hard to believe he'll be 100 percent.
The Cavs might catch a bit of a break with that. However, it's not like the Pistons had the Cavs' number when Cunningham was on the court. They've split their four meetings this season, including one overtime game.
For years, the Cavaliers were in the same position the Pistons are now. They were up-and-coming but hadn't been battle-tested, and that lack of experience often came back to haunt them when it mattered the most. Now, the tables have turned, and the Cavs will be the savvy and experienced team.
Of course, they still need to do their jobs and get past whoever they meet in the first round. That said, neither the Toronto Raptors nor the Orlando Magic shuold pose much of a threat to the Cavs in a seven-game series.