Most people won’t remember the Toronto Raptors’ second-half collapse to the Indiana Pacers this past Tuesday night. They will remember Lance Stephenson getting chewed out by Demar DeRozan and P.J. Tucker at the end of the game for taking an uncontested shot with only three seconds left on the clock. Stephenson had broken an unwritten rule in basketball: when the other team concedes defeat, you respect that and let the game end.

After the game, Paul George commented that the Pacers needed the type of energy that Stephenson brings, and it’s tough to disagree with him. Though it’s a very small sample size, Stephenson has been shooting the three at a team-high 67 percent, and posted a plus-minus differential of 10 in the Toronto game.

Stephenson isn’t the solution to the Pacers woes; they still have issues with their game. Their bench has the depth of a “Fast and Furious” plot line, and they have middling stats in almost every category.

Yet they did erase a 19-point deficit, which just goes to show how tough the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be. For the past few years now, the East has been seen as a cakewalk for whichever team Lebron James is on, but this year it seems like there will be a competitive playoff series for the East in practically every round of the playoffs.

Though they are the losing team in the discussion, the Raptors are still looking extremely dangerous, and have yet to add Kyle Lowry back into the line-up. Had Lowry been in the lineup, it’s unlikely that the Pacers would have been able to make a comeback. The Pacers were able to sink almost twice the amount of threes against the Raptors. Had Lowry been there with his 41.7 three point field goal percentage, he would have been able to match the Pacers to some degree.

For the Washington Wizards, John Wall and Bradley Beal are making sure their team stays in a contending spot. Wall and Beal have been averaging over 20 points per game, and are making a nightly case for best back court duo in the East. The Wizards have a few well-spaced out games left in the season, so it’s not crazy to think that they can run the table and break into the top three in the Eastern Conference.

With the obvious inclusion of the Celtics, there are four teams that have a realistic shot at progressing to the NBA finals. It may be sad for James and the people in Cleveland, but the strength of the top Eastern Conference teams are sure to make this year’s playoffs the most exciting we’ve seen since the Celtics big three took on the Heatles in consecutive years.

All NBA fans are ready for a new rivalry in the East. While it’s clear that James still holds a grudge against the Celtics, it’s refreshing to see the rest of the East performing well enough to warrant a real debate about who is the better team, or who can go farther in the playoffs. This kind of parity among the league is what brings us the tense moments; it gets players emotional over a guy taking a shot with only three seconds left in the game.

The Raptors were emotional because they knew they could have won that game, and I’m sure the team’s second half collapse will stick with them. The Pacers and Raptors might not get to see each other again in the playoffs, but this type of drama won’t be absent in other match-ups.
If the Pacers-Raptors game proved anything, it’s that all the teams in the East have to watch their backs, no lead is safe, and nothing is guaranteed anymore.