NBA update on the Bucks, Celtics, Heat, and other East contenders

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The NBA Eastern Conference is currently more competitive than ever before. While teams could qualify to the playoffs relatively easily previously, currently, teams like the Toronto Raptors must fight to keep the chances of qualifying alive. Here’s taking a look at how teams of the Eastern Conference are faring after week 1.

1) Boston Celtics: The Celtics recently acquired Malcolm Brogdon from the Indiana Pacers, and the decision is clearly paying off. Brogdon has shown the ability to attack the opponent’s defense while bolstering the Celtics defense as well. The loss in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, was as much about the inability to stop Curry, but also because they scored insufficient points themselves, with the exceptions of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. With an average of 19.1 points and 5.9 assists last season, Brogdon can now significantly boost the team’s performance.

2) Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavaliers have raised questions regarding who is to be played as their small forward. While the front five includes the talented combination of Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, the small forward is under rotation. Caris LeVert has proven his ability in creating chances but falls behind in his defensive prowess, Isaac Okoro has missed all his three-pointer attempts so far, and Dean Wade is under recovery from a pre-season injury.

3) Miami Heat: Miami have demonstrated an over reliance on Bam Adebayo, with their performance dipping when he retires to the bench. In their 3 recent games against Boston and Toronto, Adebayo was off court for 35 minutes, causing Miami to concede 42 points. However, this is expected to improve with the return of Omer Yurtseven, who is recovering from an ankle injury and is set to substitute the underperforming Dewayne Dedmon.

4) Milwaukee Bucks: Veteran center Brooks Lopez, who missed almost the entire last season due to a back injury, is now back in action. The 7 feet, 280-pound player, along with star Giannis Antetokounmpo has proven to be a challenging wall for the opponents, with Lopez scoring 4 three-pointers and blocking 2 shots, in their recent victory over the Philadelphia 76ers who scored just 88 points.

5) Philadelphia 76ers: The championship hopefuls have had a disappointing start with 4 losses in 5 games. While individual players have made a mark, such as Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, the team has not been able to work together. This is unexpected as these key players, along with James Harden and Tobias Harris have trained and played together in last year’s regular and off-season.

6) Toronto Raptors: The Raptors are expected to put up fights in every match, as the team lacks offensive players but has a strong defense. This has caused matches to be competitive and decided at the last minute with a 3-point win over Cleveland, a 4-point loss to Brooklyn, a 3-point loss to Miami and an 8-point win over Miami, where they were trailing with 2 minutes on the clock.