u/njerejeje

Before the season started, the 2 best teams in the eastern conference by both consensus opinion and betting odds were the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The NBA set opening night and Christmas as Knicks vs Cavaliers because the league thought this was the rivalry that would define the conference in 2026. I even made a comment at one point early in the year asking “Which non-Cavs non-Knicks team in the East is the most likely to surprise people and be a legit ECF contender?” It turns out the answer was nobody.

There were unexpected developments along the way, like Detroit & Boston getting the top 2 seeds and the Cavaliers trading for Harden, but the Knicks and Cavaliers were ultimately always on a collision course for the eastern conference finals since October.