In basketball, there are 5 positions: the Point Guard, the Shooting Guard, the Small Forward, the Power Forward, and finally the center. The Small Forward, Power Forward, and Center make up what's called the front court. While the backcourt is made up of the Point Guard and the Shooting Guard. There are many good backcourts throughout the league, but in this case we are just going to be talking about the Eastern Conference's top Backcourts. But this is in no particular order.
The most obvious Eastern Conference backcourt is that of the 2016 NBA Champions, who play at the Quicken Loans Arena. The Cleveland Cavaliers, with the PG Kyrie Irving and the SG JR Smith. Back in 2015, the Cavaliers made it to the finals, but they only had 1/2 their backcourt as Kyrie went down in Game 1 at Oracle. The Warriors were able to take advantage of this and went on to win the Finals 4-2. But 2016 was completely different story for this tandem. JR started finding his range from beyond the 3-point line and this allowed Kyrie to get driving ranges and Kyrie was able to find JR to quickly shoot the 3-pointer as well. In the 2015-16 Season, Kyrie averaged 19.6 Points Per Game, 4.7 Assists Per Game, and 3.0 Rebounds Per Game. In 2015-16 Season, JR averaged 12.4 Points Per Game, 1.7 Assists Per Game, and 2.8 Rebounds Per Game. If Cleveland didn't have this backcourt combination, oh yeah and LeBron James, we definitely are not talking about Cleveland being the defending NBA Champions.
Another very exciting Eastern Conference backcourt combination is north of the border in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This tandem plays at Air Canada Center and their team is the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have quite the backcourt that can put up points in a hurry. I'm talking about their PG Kyle Lowry and their SG. DeMar DeRozan. I saw how good of a backcourt these two are for myself when I saw the Raptors at Air Canada Center on March 2nd, 2016. The Raptors won 104-94, but Lowry and DeRozan made the game feel like it wasn't as close as the score indicates. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for a staggering 63 points, with DeRozan scoring 31 and Lowry with 32. The Raptors team and crowd feeds on their all star backcourt's energy and just thrives. During the 2015-16 Season, Lowry averaged 21.2 Points Per Game, 6.4 Assists Per Game, and 4.7 Rebounds Per Game. While DeRozan averaged 23.5 Points Per Game, 4.0 Assists Per Game, and 4.5 Rebounds Per Game during 2015-16 SeasonThey made it all the way to the eastern conference finals, but they ran into a buzz saw known as LeBron James and the Cavaliers. But don't be surprised if the Raptors get back there as a result of this AMAZING backcourt.
But there's yet another fantastic backcourt in the eastern conference, and this tandem's home is in our nation's capital. They play at Verizon Center for the Washington WIzards, PG John Wall and SG Bradley Beal. These guys are similar to the Raptors sensational backcourt in that Wall and Beal can light up the scoreboard. But their biggest problem is that they've both had injuries, so this has disabled them from really becoming that AMAZING backcourt that they have the potential to be. Wall is terrific at finding the open man or driving the lane and making layups or jamming a slam dunk. Beal is very similar, but he especially likes to dunk the basketball. During the 2015-16 Season, Wall averaged 19.9 Points Per Game, 10.2 Assists Per Game and 4.9 Points Per Game. Not bad for the #1 pick out of Kentucky. Beal averaged 17.4 Points Per Game, 2.9 Assists Per Game, and 3.4 Rebounds Per Game during the 2015-16 Season.
In the Motor City, they've got a good backcourt forming. This backcourt tandem's home is the Palace of Auburn Hills and the team is the Detroit Pistons. PG Reggie Jackson and SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, KCP for short. The Pistons got to the playoffs in the 2015-2016 season largely due to the play of their backcourt. Reggie Jackson is the point guard and he will find Drummond and Harris, but his favorite guy to find is his guard mate KCP. Jackson and KCP both like to drive the basketball and make big plays. As their chemistry develops, look out for these young Pistons. During the 2015-16 Season, Jackson averaged 18.8 Points Per Game, 6.2 Assists Per Game, and 3.2 Rebounds Per Game. During 2015-2016, Pope averaged 14.5 Points Per Game, 1.8 Assists Per Game and 3.7 Rebounds Per Game.
Boston is also forming a very nice looking backcourt at TD Garden. PG Isaiah Thomas and SG Avery Bradley. Thomas is a great distributor but I feel that he is better off the ball because he tends to shoot it a lot and drive to the basket for crazy layups a lot. But Avery Bradley isn't a slouch at the Shooting Guard position by any means. But I feel that Avery Bradley is better on the defensive end for the Celtics. But Bradley can score the basketball. In the 2015-16 Season, Thomas averaged 22.2 Points Per Game, 6.2 Assists Per Game, and 3.0 Rebounds Per Game. During the 2015-16 Season, Bradley averaged 15.2 Points Per Game, 2.1 Assists Per Game, and 2.9 Points Per game.
In the NBA's offseason, the final fantastic backcourt was created in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers pulled off a 3 team trade with the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks and Indy got Jeff Teague. Teague is now going to be paired in the backcourt with Monta Ellis. This is going to be a very good backcourt, but here's the wildcard for the pacers, their SF is Paul George. But to focus in on Indy's new look backcourt, Teague gives the acers the kind of PG they want because Indiana wants to get up and down the court and Teague provides that substantially better than George Hill. Teague will find the open man and he's able to create his own shot. But let's not forget about Monta Ellis, he's been a solid SG since he cam into the league. He's decent at shooting, but he's at his best when driving to the lane and getting easy layups. As a Hawk during 2015-16 Season, Teague averaged 15.7 Points Per Game, 5.9 Assists Per Game and 2.7 Rebounds Per Game. In the 2015-16 Season, Ellis averaged 13.8 Points Per Game, 4.7 Assists Per Game, and 3.3 Rebounds Per Game.
| PPG | APG | RPG | PER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13.8 | 4.7 |
The Eastern Conference is loaded with backcourts that are only getting better, from Boston to Washington, Toronto to Detroit and of Cleveland, but there are many others that might surprise people and be a dangerous backcourt. But in the meantime these team's backcourts are special and they're going to keep wrecking havoc on the conference and league.
