The road to the NBA championship seems to a wide open 8-lane freeway. For the teams in the eastern conference there may be some potholes along the way that cause them to not make it to the championship destination. What are the potholes that can cause each team with true championship aspirations to fall short of that goal?

Motor City Maybes

The Detroit Pistons are currently the number one seed in the eastern conference. They have all of the looks of a championship contender. Detroit is top ten in both points scored and points allowed per game. They have a real deal most valuable player candidate in Cade Cunningham.

Cunningham is averaging 25.2 points, 10 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game while also being a very good defensive player. The Pistons also play with a great physicality that will carry over to the playoffs.

The problem is, who will score when Cunningham has a bad game. Cunningham is the Pistons offense. Between his points and assists, Cunningham accounts for 50.4 of the 117.2 points that Detroit scores per game.

On Tuesday, March 3rd, the Pistons played against the Cleveland Cavaliers and lost 113-109. Now, there is no shame in losing to the Cavs but this game was different. The Cavs were without their leading scorer, Donovan Mitchell, and their starting center Jarrett Allen suffered a knee injury in the third quarter.

Detroit was at full strength and was not able to score enough because Cunningham had a very rare bad game. He only scored 10 points and shot 4/16 from the floor. If this happens twice in a playoff series, it could lead to an early exit for the east leading Pistons.

Ultimately, they will need a second creator to emerge in the playoffs and take some of the pressure off of Cunningham, to make it to the NBA Finals.

Green with Uncertainty

The Boston Celtics may be the biggest surprise in the NBA this season. There are the second seed in the eastern conference. In the absence of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown is having his best season as a pro. Brown is averaging 29 points, 7.1 rebounds, and five assists per game.

Alongside Brown, there have been others to step up as well. Payton Pritchard is averaging 17.1 points and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 46% from the floor and 36% from three. Derrick White is not having the best season from an efficiency standpoint but is still productive, averaging 17 points per game as well.

The Celtics don’t have a great offense but make up for it with their defense. They give up the least amount of points in the NBA. The are only allowing 107 points per game.

The uncertainty that may come up is the return of Jayson Tatum. Tatum tore his achilles tendon in the playoffs last season. He was expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season but he has been practicing with the Celtics’ G-league team. The reports are that he can come back soon.

If he comes back, what role does he play? How good will he be? If he is not close to himself, will they have enough offense to win in the playoffs?

The lack of offense, showed its ugly head against the Charlotte Hornets on March 4th. The Hornets defeated the Celtics, 118-89. Pritchard had a horrible game, scoring zero points and shooting 0/6 from the floor. Will the addition of Tatum save them on nights like this?

So many questions that will need positive answers for Boston to make it to the NBA Finals.

Towns without Borders

The New York Knicks came into this season with very high expectations. They made it to the eastern conference finals last season and lost to the Indiana Pacers. After the season, New York decided to move on from their head coach, Tom Thibodeau.

Thibodeau was criticized for playing his starters for too many minutes and his lack of imagination on the offensive end of the floor. So, the Knicks hired Mike Brown. It may be unfair but the expectation is for Brown to be the difference in the Knicks winning their first championship, since the 1970s.

On paper, the Knicks look like a true championship contender, they have the third best record in the east. New York is third in offensive rating and seventh in defensive rating. They have two all-stars in Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns but they can also be the two players who hurt the team a great deal on the defensive end.

Towns is not able to switch on to guards in pick and roll/pop actions and he also isn’t a rim protector. So, against the better teams in the league, they are able to take advantage of Towns on defense.

The Knicks have lost all three of their match-ups against the Pistons by at least 15 points. Detroit had their way against the Knicks defense by using the pick and roll action to put KAT in a position where he has to make a play. If your defense is dependent on KAT to make plays, your defense will be bad.

Come playoff time, how will the Knicks address the KAT issue on defense? Will they go with a two big lineup, start KAT and Mitchell Robinson? Does that affect their spacing on offense too much in a negative way?

The Knicks have to find a way to be decent on defense while their two best offensive players are on the floor. If they can’t do that, they may be prime for an early playoff exit.

A Contender That Hardens in the Wrong Moments

The Cleveland Cavaliers were the number one seed heading into last year’s playoffs and were beat in the second round by the Pacers. The Cavs had some injuries in the playoffs that cost them in a major way. Darius Garland only played three games in that series and clearly was not himself. He averaged 14 points per game and shot 34% from the floor, which is well below his average.

Garland also dealt with injuries to start this season. Which could have been a big factor that led to the move to trade him to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for James Harden.

The Cavaliers are 8-1 with Harden in the lineup. Harden is playing very well so far, averaging 19.1 points, 7.9 assists, and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 46% from the floor and 45% from three point range.

Now, the question is will this continue in the playoffs. Harden has some historically bad playoff games for a player of his caliber. Will one of those games be the end of the Cavs playoff run? Will Donovan Mitchell, Jaylon Tyson, and/or Evan Mobley be able to overcome a classic Harden meltdown?

Who will win the East?

The top four teams in the east, all have a legit shot to win the conference. Will it be one of those four or an emerging team like the Toronto Raptors or Charlotte Hornets? Who do you have representing the eastern conference in the NBA Finals?