Schadenfreude discussions in the Eastern Conference
The Cleveland Cavaliers come to down boasting a perfect 15 win record. So that will (correctly) dominate the headlines today. However, if you take a moment to look a little further down the standings (ok, a LOT further down) you’ll find the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers with 5 and 2 wins respectively.
The Sixers have been (surprise, surprise) been dealing with injuries to start the year and just blew a 19 point lead to the not-so-juggernaut Miami Heat last night. In theory, they could put things together better when everyone is healthy. Now read that sentence again and tell me how optimistic it sounds.
The Bucks actually have most of their players healthy (aside from Middleton, who may never be back to his old self again) and Giannis is perhaps having one of the best stretches of his career personally. And yet they are still struggling. I get why they made the Dame trade, but the early returns don’t seem to be very positive.
You guys know me, I’m still waiting for the 20 game rule to make a final call. The rest of the East (aside from Boston and Cleveland) is struggling as well. So these two teams aren’t far out of the playoff race. But as Yogi would say, it gets late early around here.
So what do you think? Is there still time to turn things around for these teams? Or are they officially cooked this year? Discuss!