The East road goes through LeBron

MIAMI (AP):

It only looks like parity.

Consider it an April tradition: The franchise that goes into the Eastern Conference playoffs as the No. 1 seed changes annually. Toronto are on the brink of clinching the top spot in the East this season - which would make the Raptors the seventh franchise in seven years to do so, following Chicago, Miami, Indiana, Atlanta, Cleveland and Boston.

It's an unprecedented run of top-seed diversity for the NBA, at least since the league started seeding by conference in 1973.

Of course, those top seeds usually find out that finishing ahead of LeBron James in April is much easier than ousting him in May.

"Listen, it doesn't matter to me if I'm a 6 seed, or a 3 seed, or a 2 seed, or an 8 seed," James said. "If I come into your building for a Game 1, it will be very challenging."

So make no mistake, the East still goes through James.

He is trying to reach the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive season. James' teams are 24-2 in East series as the higher seed, 6-2 in East series as the lower seed. And while the Raptors will be the favourites on the brackets, there will be a certain amount of scepticism until someone knocks James off his perch atop the conference.