Are the Cleveland Cavaliers This Good or Is the East That Bad?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have begun the postseason a perfect 10-0, just one win away from tying the NBA record of most consecutive wins to begin a postseason—an impressive accomplishment no matter how you frame it.

Still, critics have already pointed to the relatively low talent level of their Eastern Conference foes. The Cavs swept the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks rather easily, while Western Conference powerhouses like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs beat up on each other in the second round.

The Eastern Conference was praised for being much-improved this season. Are the Cavaliers disproving that theory, or is their unblemished start something to marvel at?

The East Improved, Right?

That was the narrative coming into the regular season.

The Cavs were once again going to be the cream of the crop, but teams all around them were supposedly getting better. The Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Pistons all made significant jumps in the standings, while assumed playoff-bound franchises like the Chicago Bulls (42-40) and Washington Wizards (41-41) couldn’t even crack the top eight.

This was a stark contrast to the West, where the Dallas Mavericks (-0.3) and Memphis Grizzlies (-2.2) reached the postseason with a negative point differential. The West possessed the top three teams in plus/minus, but seven of the following nine teams hailed from the Eastern Conference.

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“For the first time in many years, Eastern teams are piling up wins against the West. It is possible that a gradual conference shift has begun, or, at the very least, that the gap between the conferences is shrinking,” wrote Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe earlier this year.

Traditionally, the West has clobbered the East in head-to-head matchups. Not this season.

“In 14 of the last 15 seasons, Western teams won the head-to-head series between the two,” Himmelsbach wrote. “… Last season the West went 263-187 against the East, for a .584 winning percentage. The year before that, the tally was even more lopsided at 284-166 (.631).”

This season, the gap narrowed.

One more game to go (CHI @ NOP), but the East will finish w/ its 2nd best record vs. the West in the last 17 years. pic.twitter.com/KBdPoi9rsC

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) April 10, 2016

The East went 218-232 against the West, an …

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