The Eastern Conference has been dominated by whatever team LeBron James has been on for the last 6 years as his teams have won 6 straight Eastern Conference titles. Though this year appears to be going in the same way as the Cleveland Cavaliers have a commanding lead in the east, the Cavs and the rest of the top teams in the east seem to be in a rut.
The Cavs, Raptors, Celtics, Hawks and Wizards make up the top 5 teams in the east. The Cavs has lost 3 games in a row and have only won 4 of their last 10. The Raptors have lost 5 games in a row and have also only won 4 of their last 10. The Celtics just broke a 3 game slide with a win against the Rockets while the Hawks are doing fairly well, winning 7 of their last 10. Team standings and records are available on ESPN.
The big story in the East, however, are the Washington Wizards. The Wizards, who are 25-20 and have won 8 of their last 10 games, are looking like a different team than who they were at the start of this season. The team started out with a 3-9 record and looked far from a playoff contender. However, according to the report by The Washington Post, the Wizards have won 19 of their last 28 games and rank sixth in offensive efficieny, 13th in defensive efficiency and sixth in net Rating.
Their most recent win came against their rivals, the Boston Celtics, where the Wizards dominated with a 123-108 final score. Their impressive play is partly due to the contribution of their starting back court, John Wall and Bradley Beal. Wall is averaging 23.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists while Beal is averaging 21.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists as per Basketball Reference. With the two of them leading the way, the Wizards are poised to make a steady run at the playoff run.
