NBA scores 2017: The East is making LeBron James’ path to the finals tougher than ever

The Raptors and the Celtics are making sure the Eastern Conference has never been tougher for James.

Feb 25, 2017, 1:00 PM UTC

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t play on Friday, and they weren’t traveling. NBA players have to savor these nights, the rare chances to relax at home. LeBron James might have even had time to turn on Friday night’s marquee game between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors. If he did, you have to wonder what he thought.

In that clash, the Raptors — even without Kyle Lowry, who might miss a little time with a sore wrist — won 107-97 against Boston, which currently holds the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. It was a triumphant debut for Toronto’s two new acquisitions at the trade deadline, with Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker both proving instrumental in a game that matters for the East standings.

Ibaka solidifies the power forward position, which Toronto had been filling by committee so far this season. (No offense, Pascal Siakam, who is totally a real player and not a computer-generated name!) While his defense has slipped from where it once was, Ibaka’s scoring is the most consistent it has ever been. The 15 points on 7-of-12 he chipped in on Friday is a good measure for what he can provide, and the spacing of a lineup that features him and Patrick Patterson is something Toronto hasn’t really ever seen.

That type of versatility is what allowed Toronto to only play Jonas Valanciunas 18 minutes on Friday, while backup center Lucas Nogueira only logged 11. True centers against Boston’s five-out shooting didn’t make sense — Valanciunas was only plus-4 and Nogueira minus-11 — so moving Ibaka there in a small ball look allowed the Raptors to successfully match their opponent.

The other new addition, P.J. Tucker, was just as important. He played 29 minutes, scoring nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and he must have hit the ground a dozen times trying to make hustle plays. Toronto switched frequently in the fourth quarter, helped by Tucker’s defensive versatility, and that’s what helped the Raptors to stay in front of Isaiah Thomas. The NBA’s leading fourth-quarter scorer notched only three points in the frame.

This is as versatile and modern as we’ve seen Toronto since it rose as Cleveland’s primary challenger in the Eastern Conference two years ago. The Raptors are a roster that is at least 10 players deep, and adding Tucker and Ibaka to the mix allows several totally new combinations of lineups that they’ll need in the postseason. The slight roster refresh — without giving up much in return — allows Toronto to finish the season and head into the postseason confident. And yet, the Raptors are still only fourth in the Eastern Conference.

That’s partly because the East has never been this good. The Celtics are one of the two teams ahead of them, of course, even though Toronto won the head-to-head matchup on Friday. This is Boston’s best season yet, benefitting from a steadily improved and Thomas’ best year yet. Sandwiched between those two is the Washington Wizards, which added Bojan Bogdanovic at the trade deadline to solidify their bench. Though we’ve been fooled by Washington before, the Wizards look more legitimate than ever as 2017 wears on.

Back to LeBron, who we’re imagining sprawled out on a couch in his Akron mansion, catching the game on TV. What’s he thinking as he watches an improved Raptors roster? How good does he view Boston, even if it didn’t pull the trigger to pick up Paul George?

James, of course, believes the Cavaliers can beat anyone the Eastern Conference throws at him. So should we. We’ve seen James get bogged down a couple of times during his six straight finals runs, but not since he came to Cleveland. The closest anyone ever got was Chicago, when it went up 2-1 before the Cavaliers firmly took back control and beat the Bulls with three straight wins. (You could maybe count last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, but Cleveland blew out Toronto by at least 20 in all four wins.)

Counting against Cleveland is a bad idea. People have said this is the year James’ finals streak will end for as long as we’ve called it a “finals streak.” But Cleveland’s path to June, at least, has never been tougher.

Russell Westbrook’s 82-game triple-double

Westbrook has done it now:

For 82 games — dating back to Feb. 24, 2016 — Westbrook is averaging 28.3 points, 10.5 assists and 10.0 rebounds. We had been waiting for his numbers from last year to connect to the ones he is putting up this season, and they finally have.

This season, of course, Westbrook is vying to be the second player ever to averaging a triple-double for an entire season. On Friday, his 17-point, 18-rebound, 17-assist triple-double pushed his season tallies up to 31.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists. He still has a third of a season left, but especially with Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott joining the team, you’d have to assume Westbrook is more likely to achieve this than not.

Ultimately, an 82-game stretch spanning two seasons won’t matter to anyone like a full season will. Still, it’s a marvelous achievement we all should be amazed at.