The East is wide open

You know how people said the East was wide open heading into the playoffs? It’s really wide the hell open. Three of the top four seeds return home with an all-even series after failing to take control of matters on the road. The Raptors and Celtics have both blown 2-0 advantages and the Cavs had to scratch and claw to get all square with the Pacers.

Into that void step the Sixers, about whom much will be written in the coming weeks. The Processors are cruising right along with a 3-1 lead over Miami and a chance to close things out on Tuesday at home. In the absence of a clearly delineated favorite, Philly is the closest thing we have to a front-runner in the East at the moment.

How did we get here?

Let’s start with LeBron James, who very narrowly escaped what would have been one of the most embarrassing losses of his career. Could you imagine if his glorious second-run with Cleveland reached its nadir in a cavalcade of Lance Stephenson shenanigans?

The lasting image of this Cavs’ season would have been Lance holding the ball triumphantly like the Statue of Liberty wielding the torch, along with Bron picking up a cheap technical courtesy of the internet’s favorite weirdo. (The internet picks strange causes to celebrate, but that’s a List for another day.)

That, of course, didn’t happen. LeBron played 45 rugged minutes in Game 4 and took over late as he so often does to rescue the Cavs from near oblivion.

So, what now? Of all the three competitive series that remain, this one offers the most intrigue.

All due respect to Nate McMillan and his team for its strong campaign, the Pacers are better than we thought. His Game 4 shooting woes notwithstanding, Victor Oladipo is the goods. He’s a top-20 player, with confidence and energy to burn on both ends of the floor. He’s also fearless, a fine trait to have in your alpha.

With up-and-comers like Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis to complement their burgeoning star, the Pacers are in solid shape for the future. Add to that mix some salty vets with something to prove and the Pacers are dangerous right now.

They still have a lot to learn, however. Indy had Cleveland dead to rights in Game 4 and botched it with ill-timed passes, stagnant offense, and defensive miscues. That’s normal for a young team, but the worry for Cleveland is the Pacers will figure it out sooner rather than next year. If they can, there might not be anything even LeBron James can do about it. (Maybe.)

The Cavs look old and not very talented. George Hill missed Game 4 with back spasms, which didn’t matter much because he hasn’t been effective. That’s more than you can say for Tristan Thompson, who has barely seen the court. Those vaunted additions from the trade deadline have been mostly invisible.

The Cavs still have LeBron and, at the risk of repeating the obvious for the millionth time, that has tended to matter in these situations. Bron doesn’t need much. The Cavs finally got a bit of offense from Jordan Clarkson and Jeff Green, along with some timely threes via J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver to survive Game 4.

Home court advantage will take them only so far. We’ll find out a lot about both teams on Wednesday.

Moving up north, the Raptors continue to Raptor. Look, we all want to believe in the culture change. There was no more uplifting story in the NBA this season than Toronto’s reinvention. The skepticism about this team is well earned, however.

The worry for Toronto was it would revert to bad habits when times got tough, and that’s exactly what happened in the closing minutes of Game 4. Kyle Lowry struggled to create offense for himself and DeMar DeRozan took matters into his own hands with 29 shot attempts.

The other issue is the Raptors’ depth chart took a hit without Fred VanVleet. They’re still deep, even without him, but reserve depth is a little overrated in the playoffs when rotations get tighter. So now we’ve got a series when there never should have been one in the first place.

That this happened against a Wizards’ team that seemed ready to implode when the series shifted back to Washington and one that played the final five minutes without Bradley Beal … Guys. Come on, now.

Even after those two wins, no one knows what to make of the Wizards. The bench is still suspect and the supporting cast has yet to find a level of consistency. But John Wall and Bradley Beal are fully engaged and that makes the Wizards problematic.

Game 5 in Toronto will be fascinating. One team with nothing to lose and the other with everything to squander. We all figured this would happen to the Raptors eventually. We just didn’t think it would happen so quickly.

The talk in Boston is how Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are growing up right before our eyes, which is nice, but also not the point. Brown and Tatum have both been brilliant, especially Brown, but the point is to win the series. After their spirited comeback in Game 4 fell short, the Celtics have to be kicking themselves for letting this get away.

Sure, they could have done a few things differently down the stretch, but they lost the game in the first quarter when they “lost their minds,” as Brad Stevens told them in the huddle. This series is very winnable and while it would be a notable achievement for a team without its two best players, it’s also a baseline expectation.

Marcus Smart is hoping to return soon and while Smart won’t fix their offensive woes, his defense and energy has proven to be difference makers. (Don’t ask how, just understand that by doing Marcus Smart things, the Celtics become an entirely different team.)

Opportunities are not to be squandered in this league. Brown and Tatum are making the most of theirs. It’d be a shame for the Celtics if they didn’t follow through on that promise.

Speaking off opportunity, you can see why the Bucks were a trendy pick to spring the upset.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a force of nature. He settles for way too many long twos, but he is unstoppable around the basket when he has the slightest advantage. If you didn’t know who Khris Middleton was before, you know him now. He’s a lights out shooter and a solid defender who’s so underrated no one’s ever bothered to give him a nickname.

Giannis and Khris got help at home from Jabari Parker and Thon Maker and one wonders how their games will travel when the series shifts back to Boston. One also has to wonder when Joe Prunty will play Matthew Dellavedova over Eric Bledsoe in crunch time. Or whether he’ll keep Tyler Zeller on the bench and just go with the kids up front.

Either team could have won Game 1 and both could have lost Game 4. We’ve had the requisite blowout on either side, so now it’s time for this series to take its proper shape. It feels like a seven-gamer.

Meanwhile, the Sixers just keep humming right along. Closing out Miami should not be taken as a given, but it should absolutely happen. Onward, to the future.