East Notes: Cavs, Celtics, Playoff Pushes, Pistons

Cavaliers

The Celtics would be a terrible playoff matchup for the Cavs, and experience is a major reason why, wrote Jimmy Watkins of Cleveland.com.

“If the Cavs play the Celtics this postseason, seasoning will be a bigger Boston advantage than any of the above,” Watkins wrote.

“… Remember center Jarrett Allen’s ‘lights were brighter than expected’ comment from last spring? The Cavs might want to shop for sunglasses. Because if the season unfolds as planned, its spotlight will only intensify. Last season’s first-round loss to the Knicks merely introduced the Cavs to postseason pressure. And no team can explain the next step better than Boston.”

The Celtics enter Thursday as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs are No. 2. In seven of the last 12 seasons, the top two seeds in the East entering the playoffs met in the conference finals.

• Celebrate what the Cavs are doing so far? Sure, why not. I wrote as much in my latest Dribbles here.
• You can also check out the latest lengthy and in-depth pod discussion on the season ahead right here.

Celtics

Guard Payton Pritchard said the Celtics have their eyes set on one thing and one thing only entering the NBA’s second half.

“Winning a championship and being a part of that,” he said, via Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald. “That’s the one goal we all have here, and that’s what we’re all focused on.”

Boston enters the final stretch with the league’s best record. A big part of reaching the Finals again, of course, will be good health.

“With a comfortable cushion in the standings and a relatively easy schedule — the C’s have multiple matchups against the Pistons, Wizards, Hornets and Blazers — there is ample opportunity for them to save their legs for the playoffs,” Hewitt wrote. “There should be a continued priority to preserve Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed 15 of the Celtics’ first 55 games and has been beat up with various minor injuries, as well as veteran Al Horford, who wore down last postseason after a heavier regular-season workload.”

Pistons

The Pistons waived rookie guard Malcolm Cazalon ahead of Thursday’s game vs. the Pacers, per reports.

“This season, Cazalon joined the Pistons as an undrafted prospect, coming from overseas,” wrote Justin Grasso of SI.com. “Born in France, Cazalon had pro basketball experience for multiple clubs before making the transition to the NBA in 2023.

“In 2018, he competed with JL Bourg of the LNB Pro A league. He had a stint in Belgium, competing with the Leuven Bears in 2019.”

• The Pistons will spend the second half of the season dreaming of lottery ping-pong balls and as the Detroit News wrote, “onboarding” new players.