The biggest news this off season was the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas as well as other pieces. Going into the season it appeared as if the Celtics and Cavaliers would be battling at the top of the Eastern Conference but things changed about 7 minutes in to the first game of the season. To start the season people wondered if this would be Kyries team or if it would be Gordon Heywards team. With Heyward going down with a gruesome injury in the opener it appeared if it would be Kyries team to lead this year.
After the first few games it appeared as if the Celtics may struggle without Heyward but things have changed very quickly. After an 0-2 start the Celtics have won 16 straight but appears as if they might lose by the time I finish writing this blog. Kyrie has been the biggest reason for that, averaging 22.5 points per game but a clutch rating of 78.0 from ESPN. How they measure that I'm not sure but it is measured in the last 5 minutes of games when the score is within 5. Just to give you a reference, Lebron James has a rating of 46.0, Kristaps Porzingis has a rating of 39.6, and Damian Lillard has a rating of 39.3. We saw glimpses of this in Cleveland in the NBA Finals when he hit the clutch three in game 7 to give the Cavs the win.
I say this all the time but I don't think Lebron is a good teammate. He has unreal expectations for his teammates and and if things go wrong he starts to point the finger. Kyrie obviously didn't like his time there in Cleveland towards the end and I think Lebron is the reason for that. Now the Cavs are a bunch of washed up former All Stars led by Lebron who seem like they are past their time. Isaiah Thomas is sidelines with Injury and could make a difference once he returns but that is still uncertain.
The Cavs had gotten off to a slow start but now have won a few in a row and are sitting in the 4 spot in the east at 11-7. I'm not saying that the Cavs are gonna be bad this year, and with as bad as the east is they will probably finish 2nd or 3rd in the east and would most likely make it to the eastern conference finals. Lebron has won the east the past 7 years, 4 with Miami and 3 with Cleveland, but this could be the year that changes. The Cavs and Celtics will most likely meet in the Eastern Conference Finals and with the way things are going the Celtics would be very tough to beat.
If things keep on going how they are going the Celtics will probably have home court advantage in the East and with Kyrie wanting to prove something, a good balance of veterans like Al Horford, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Heyward if he can come back, as well as young guns including Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum. The Celtics also have one of the best coaches in the league in Brad Stevens and a great GM and front office who could still make another move this year.
It will be hard since Lebron and his crew usually figure out how to turn it around playoff time but I think this is the year that someone else can make it to the finals and Kyrie would love to beat Lebron and take over as King of the East.