Toronto’s early-season slide has worsened, leaving the Maple Leafs at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with mounting questions about their trajectory.

Philadelphia Union saw its historic season conclude on Sunday evening, falling in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to New York City FC by a 1-0 scoreline.

Maxi Moralez opened the scoring in the 27th minute and New York City FC beat the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Union 1-0 to win the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Maxi Moralez produced yet another play-off goal against Philadelphia Union as a depleted New York City FC (NYCFC) produced a textbook away performance to stun the Supporters’ Shield champions 1-0 at Subaru Park and reach the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2022.

That might be a slight exaggeration. By most measures, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets are the two best teams in the league. The rest of the West’s top six — the Rockets, Lakers, Spurs and Timberwolves — clock in as potential spoilers, most of whom have long runways for success.

Game Information Philadelphia Union vs. New York City FC Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs | Eastern Conference Semifinal Sunday, November 23rd, Kick off set for 7:55PM ET Watch on MLS Season Pass or Apple T

A look at the records in the Eastern Conference shows that the first 15 teams are separated by seven points. Narrow it down even more and the first 11 squads are separated by five points. Is there an impact to this?

Eleven teams in the Eastern Conference are playing at least .500 ball so far, with several surprises among them.