How do the upper crust of the Eastern Conference matchup to the Cavaliers?
In this portion of the rankings, I will focus on the real players in this Eastern Conference playoff. While yes, it is possible that one of the teams could give the Cavaliers real trouble, these teams are the real roadblocks to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ postseason aspirations.
The “Can see losing to them, but a lot needs to go wrong” Tier
3. New York Knicks
Current Seed: 3rd (50-29)
Record against the Cavaliers: 0-3
Entertainment Score (out of 10): 7
Difficulty Score (out of 10): 6
How they can beat the Cavaliers:
The are a few factors that can hinder the Knicks’ chances of beating the Cavaliers in a seven-game series. The first, which is the most obvious, is that the Cavaliers are poised to have an excellent series around the paint. The Knicks, with Karl Anthony Towns at center for prolonged stretches, are setting themselves up for a rough time.
In their previous three matchups, the common trend is that the Cavaliers, over and over, will draw Towns out of the paint and attack him on an island repetitively. Now, the inverse of that situation is usually that the Knicks are at their most potent offensively with KAT at the five. A lineup of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and KAT is the Knicks’ entire entity. This is not hyperbolic, this is the league leader in total minutes for a lineup at 940 minutes. If you are wondering, the gap between the first and second is 259 minutes.
I do not foresee, barring a Mitchell Robinson masterclass on the boards, the Knicks getting much from their bench unit and solving the KAT issue on the defensive end. New York’s offense has so much firepower that they could easily win two games by shooting the leather off the ball. Brunson has been a proven Cavaliers killer in the past as well. I do not know if the Cavaliers can have appropriate personnel on the floor to slow him down enough and that could be what the Knicks bank on.
2. Indiana Pacers
Current Seed: 4th (48-31)
Record against the Cavaliers: 1-1 (with two games left)
Entertainment Score (out of 10): 9
Difficulty Score (out of 10): 8
How they can beat the Cavaliers:
The Pacers, while not as offensively potent as New York, have been strong defensively against the Cavaliers. In their first matchup, they showed a legitimate capability of dragging the Cavaliers into the mud. The Pacers have plenty of players who can disrupt the Cavaliers’ top offensive options, especially making a seven-game series tough for the guards. Benedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell, and Andrew Nembhard all stand out as players who Rick Carlisle can deploy as agents of chaos.
Tyreese Haliburton, the fulcrum of the Pacers’ offense, after starting the season poorly, has seemingly put it together. The Pacers as a whole seemed to be figuring it out. After being 16-18 on December 31, they have proceeded to go on a 32-13 run in 2025. This is a team that is peaking and will be slept on heading into the postseason.
The Pacers also have a draining pace of play. Over time, especially the longer the series goes along, the Cavaliers could get drained by the time the series potentially hits six or even seven games.
MASSIVE BREAK IN TIERS
The “Biggest Test in the Postseason” Tier
1. Boston Celtics
Final Seed: 2nd (59-20)
Record against the Cavaliers: 2-2
Entertainment Score (out of 10): 10
Difficulty Score (out of 10): 10
How they can beat the Cavaliers:
We all knew this is how the rankings would go. Yes, I could have been spicy and said how the Cavaliers should fear team X over the Celtics for reasons A, B, and C. That would be for aggregation and clicks. No, this Boston team is legit. I personally view them as the greatest roadblock for the Cavaliers on their path to a championship, including any team out west (yes, that means the historically good Oklahoma City Thunder). A lot of the reason for that boils down to team construction and personnel.
The Celtics are tall, long, and athletic one through five. Their starting five is a daunting tour de force that, when their high volume of threes connects, can turn a game on its head in the first few minutes of a game. Between an MVP-level season from Jason Tatum, to a vintage Al Horford season, and a Sixth-Man of the Year finalist in Payton Pritchard. It isn’t a Knicks situation where Boston is top-loaded with talent. In a tax apron era of the NBA, they’ve squeezed all the juice out of every last dollar for this attempted championship repeat.
They have the guards that can take on the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on their own without the need for help defense. Their bench players, outside of Luke Kornet, all can hold their own on both sides of the ball. There is no true weak link for the Cavaliers to attack, even the likes of Sam Hauser are capable enough on the defensive end to give the Cavaliers some level of pause.
The series thus far is split at 2-2. The games have been must-see television. However, the formula for all the games really started the same. The Celtics come out and bury the Cavaliers in a massive deficit early and it’s up to near-perfect play from Cleveland for a half or even three quarters to dig themselves back out of it. That is something in a seven-game series that will be nearly impossible to perform in four games of seven.
For the Cavaliers to muster past the immovable object that is the Boston Celtics, the coaching staff will need to find a winning formula with their rotations and even a De’Andre Hunter insertion into the starting lineup over Max Strus. If they don’t adjust quickly, Boston knows who they are and how to win big games. They are tested and proven. The Cavaliers need to show that this season was real. The win streaks, records, and award nominations all feel less if they go out there and get humbled by the reigning champions.