As the NBA regular season winds down, the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors have cemented themselves as the Beasts in the East. Here's what to expect from each team entering the home stretch.


1. Boston Celtics (48-26)

The Boston Celtics have been the Eastern Conference's biggest surprise, overtaking the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers for first place in the conference on Monday night.

Led by the small, but mighty Isaiah Thomas, who is averaging 29.1 PPG on 46.2 per cent from the field, the Celtics have been on a torrid pace since Jan. 1. The Celtics are 28-12 over that span and 8-2 in their last 10.

The Celts have a good shot at maintaining the top spot in the East with five of their last eight games at home and only four games against teams currently in a playoff position.

However, if the Celtics and Cavs stay neck-and-neck, Apr. 5's meeting in Boston will prove crucial to determine who owns the tiebreaker should the two teams finish with the same overall records.


2. Cleveland Cavaliers (47-26)

The Cavaliers are limping to the finish line in 2017 -- literally. Forward Kyle Korver (foot) remains sidelined along with guard Iman Shumpert (knee) and LeBron James left Monday night's dismantling at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs early with a neck injury. The team recently got forward Kevin Love back from injury, but he struggled in the lopsided loss to the Spurs.

For all the rest head coach Tyron Lue has tried to give his star players, the team's health remains a question mark and the depth that was such a strength in last year's playoffs for the Cavs is lacking heading into the 2017 playoffs.

The defending champs have lost two straight and five of their last 10 and have a tough road ahead of them to end the year. Along with their pivitol matchup with the Celtics on Apri. 5, six of their final 10 games come against playoff-bound teams and the Chicago Bulls are only half a game out of eighth.

It is hard to count out James, who is having another stellar season, averaging 26 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 8.8 APG on 54.2 per cent shooting and the Cavs have made it clear that they don't play for the regular season. However, this recent slump shows they have some vulnerabilities.


3. Washington Wizards (45-28)

John Wall and the Wizards are on pace to end a 38-year division-winning drought, currently the longest in North American professional sports.

Along with Wall (23.0 PPG and 10.8 APG), Bradley Beal (23.1 PPG on 48.1 per cent shooting) helps form one of the most potent backcourt duos in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards also own one of the league's best offences and the team is top five in points per game (109.2) and field goal percentage (47.4 per cent). This bodes well for the Wizards as both the Cavaliers (106.8 Opponent's PPG, 21st in the NBA) and Celtics (105.1 Opponent's PPG, 14th in the NBA) have defences at or below the league average.

However, the Wizards have a very tough schedule remaining to end the season. The Wiz play seven of their final nine games on the road, including games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz.

With a difficult stretch of games and the Toronto Raptors only half a game back of third place, the Wizards could easily find themselves finishing in fourth place in the East. That may have a silver lining as it would allow them to avoid a second round matchup with LeBron and the Cavaliers if the Cavs were to finish in second.


4. Toronto Raptors (45-29)

Like the Celtics, the Raptors are turning it on at the right time, with six straight wins -- and they've done it without All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry. The Raptors have gone 12-5 since Lowry was sidelined with a wrist injury due largely thanks to the deadline acquistions of P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka.

Tucker and Ibaka have instilled a stronger commitment to defence and provided the Raptors with a level of toughness that will be necessary in the playoffs. Over the team's last three games the Raptors are only allowing 94.0 PPG and overall are seventh in the league, allowing only 102.9 PPG.

Getting Lowry to gel with these new pieces when running the offence and whether he can get game reps to test his wrist before the playoffs begin will be crucial. Although the team has been solid, their three point game has suffered and DeMar DeRozan, although superb, has been shouldering a heavy offensive load for the Raptors. Once Lowry is healthy again, having his 41.7 three point percentage back in the starting rotation will be a welcome sight. The Raptors are 23rd in three pointers attempted (24.2 per game) and 12th in three point percentage (36.4 per cent).

The Raptors don't have the easiest schedule to close out the season, with two games against the Indiana Pacers and a season finale against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but there are favourable matchups against the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers that give the Raps are strong shot at the number one seed.

With eight games to go, the Raptors are three games back of the first place Celtics and hold the tiebreaker over them as well as the Wizards, which is helpful in their pursuit of the top spot in the East.

When the dust settles and the playoff begins on Apr. 15 it will be interesting to see who comes out on top between the four beasts in the East, but it should come down to the wire.