The Point Four-ward: A Merciful End to the Regular Season
2015-04-15
Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers on the final day of the 2014-15 NBA regular season…
1.) While the Celtics won’t be pushovers in the first round, it’s clear why the Cavs would prefer to play a relatively young Boston team over a resurgent (until the last two games, anyway) Brooklyn team and a Pacers team who have given the Cavs problems all year and just got their star player, Paul George, back for the stretch run and likely beyond.
The Celtics are hot at exactly the right time. Winners of four straight and seven of the last ten, head coach Brad Stevens’ squad ranks third in points per game (111.5), third in assists per game (26.3) and first in steals (13.3) over the ten game span prior to Tuesday night’s game against Toronto.
Also, in the month of April the Celtics have been allowing only 97.4 points per 100 possessions, good for fifth best in the league. They feature a dangerous scorer in Isaiah Thomas (20.7 points and 5.5 assists in April) and some lively big bodies in Brandon Bass and former Cavalier Tyler Zeller to go along with an absolutely dogged perimeter defense led by Avery Bradley and rookie Marcus Smart.
2.) Oh, and then there’s Stevens who has been drawing well-earned praise for his work with somewhat patchwork rosters the last two seasons as the Celtics often seemed stuck between deciding to blow it all up or trying to rebuild on the fly.
Give Stevens and Celtics GM Danny Ainge credit, though. They decided to make a run at one of the final playoff spots in an Eastern Conference that is decidedly top heavy and they got it done.
But, if you’re the Cavs — if you’re LeBron James, specifically — who on this Celtics roster scares you?
There are plenty of guys — Thomas and Smart, specifically — who can scare you in moments… or could have a big game or two. But, who on the Celtics scares the Cavs over a seven game playoff series?
Many of the players the Celtics will be counting on are young and lacking playoff experience. Bradley and Bass are holdovers from the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett Celtic playoff teams, but Thomas has spent his entire career losing in bunches in Sacramento, this is Smart’s first turn through the league and Cavs fans had the pleasure of watching the zero post-season minutes logged by Zeller in his career.
3.) Now, that’s the same criticism that many have been applying to a Cavs team that depends heavily on playoff neophytes Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. While that may be true, there is a little matter of the Cavs having a two-time NBA champion — a player who has played in each of the past four NBA Finals — in James.
The Celtics just don’t have that guy yet, let alone players with the star credentials of Irving and Love.
The Pacers, on the other hand, have George back and players like David West, George Hill and Roy Hibbert who have battled James very well over the past two years.
4.) As of Tuesday, the Celtics magic number to clinch the seventh seed and a first round matchup with the Central Division Champion Cavaliers sits at one with two games remaining for both the Celtics and the Pacers. If the two teams wind up tied, the Celtics own the tiebreaker having won the season series against the Pacers 3-1. [Update: with their 95-93 win over the Raptors on Tuesday, the Celtics have clinched the number seven seed in the playoffs and will face the Cavaliers in the first round.]
If Cavs fans want an extra wrinkle into their rooting interests on the final day of the season, consider this: the Chicago Bulls, currently seeded third, could still finish Wednesday in fourth place, meaning that the Cavs and Bulls wouldn’t meet in the playoffs until the Eastern Conference Finals. If the Bulls stay in third, they could meet the Cavs in the second round.
Toronto owns the tiebreaker over the Bulls by virtue of the Raptors winning their division.
Not only do the Cavs recognize the advantage in avoiding the Bulls and Pacers in the first two rounds of the playoffs, they have to like the prospect of the Atlanta Hawks having to play two potentially very tough series against those teams before they could meet the Cavs (also, of course, potentially) in the Conference Finals. [Update: the Raptors loss to the Celtics mean that Toronto will get the third seed only with a victory in their season finale against the Charlotte Hornets and a Chicago loss against Atlanta.]
Next stop, Cavs fans, it’s the playoffs!!
Live Thread is up if anyone is interested…
Washington resting players also…
Heat line up tonight: James Ennis, Henry Walker, Michael Beasley, Tyler Johnson, and Zoran Dragic.
Hahahahahaha…. Love it!
Some of the games have less talent than preseason contests.
Meanwhile Toronto is losing to Charlotte.
Toronto took back the lead going into the half.
@TonyCartagena: Lebron was just asked by @JasonLloydABJ who his MVP vote would go to, his response: Kevin Love. #Cavs
If this is true, there is some serious passive aggressiveness between the two of them. Not sure how he said it, jokingly or whatever but I don’t like the sounds of this if true. I don’t believe this tweet though because LBJ has been asked this before and he always has responded himself as far as I recall. I don’t even know who this Tony C is so maybe he’s trying to stir up shi+.
Also, where do you see the playoff schedule? Checked out Yahoo and ESPN and neither have info on it.
I hope he teared up a little when he said it, and phrased it like “Kevin Love… you da real MVP…”
He apparently paused before saying it. Sounds like a joke to me.
It’s official – Cavs play Sunday!
Sunday Funday!!!
Toronto is playing Charlotte right now. They should win this game at home, but I don’t think it matters because the Hawks will transform into the 76ers tonight vs the Bulls. Here’s hoping the Bulls transform into the Knicks.
Free RealCols! So much to be thankful for this fantastic regular season. The team is very very good. In a down year they’d be a lock for the championship. However, this year there are some excellent teams, so we’ll have to see. Ticket in hand for Game 3 vs. the Celtics at TD Garden! I have a hard time imagining the Cavs losing a game to Boston, but stranger things have happened. I expect that LBJ will come out of the gate with all guns blazing. I think the team could lose playoff games when everyone goes cold from the… Read more »
Well done on Game 3 tix Charlie! Take your #C:tBKarma with you to that one!
I’m hoping for either a GSW or Clippers (unlikely) vs. Cavs Finals so I can try and get to a game out here either in LA or up north at Oracle… I might go to a Clips playoff game anyway just to see some live playoff basketball.
Thats going to be a fun game. The Gahden will be rocking and the Cavs will quiet it down, woo!
matchup with Celtics definitely helps with this 1st round matchup especially since Cavs have starters and role players with zero playoff experience, think Nets or Pacers would have been much tougher. not sure if cavs sweep and really does it matter as long as they win the series and move on….i honestly think they’ll get better each playoff game and series, won’t be surprised if there are close games in this 1st round and then after that Cavs are rolling. cols is like Tarzan with his ‘Lebron good Cavs best’ ‘Pacers/bulls stink players bad’ routine that gets everyone fired up… Read more »
Indiana sucks. No 8 seed can beat a 1 seed. They need to blow it up and start over. Maybe keep the two georges but thats it. They are so bad. CLE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>IND its not even funny.
Brad Stevens is a good coach though, best in the NBA.
I did not write this.
Then I retract my below statement. We need the equivalent of a Twitter Verified Check on this comment board to ward off impostor Cols714s and the like…
I did not write this.
Now we all we need to do is adapt “Too Many Cooks” to “Too Many Cols”
How would the lyrics go?
Something like this maybe? (short form due to spacing issues… also rushed and not my best work) TOO MANY COLS (to the tune of TOO MANY COOKS) Man: It takes some stars to make a team Woman: A pinch of Leb and Kyrie, too M: A scoop of JR to add the spice W: A dash of Love to make it nice, and then you’ve got Both: Too many Cols W: Too many Cols B: Too many Cols M: Too many Cols B: Too many Cols W: Too many Cols B: Too many Cols M: Too many W: It takes… Read more »
I did not write this.
(Okay I did…)
Nice!!!! I wasn’t sure you were actually going to write this? Lol!
Cols, I thought Nate proved to you yesterday (via historical fact and video evidence of such) that not only can an 8 seed beat a 1 seed… but that it’s already happened twice in the modern era. It’s not like college where the difference between a 1 seed and a 16 seed is so vast that they barely belong on the same court.
Secondly, are you in some way related to Brad Stevens because that’s like the 17th time you’ve made that comment…
Kobe is at least making good use of his time off…
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/instantawesome-KobeLeBron-150415/here-kobe-bryant-twitter-rant-defending-lebron-james
Not paying attention to the predictions of someone who predicted the Cavs would win 60+ games.
They are on a 67 win pace since LBJ got healthy in January, FYI
The Pacers are on an 82 win pace since Paul George got healthy…
Well played, EG. Cols: The GSW are on a 67 win pace since … the first game of the season. They have been the best team in the NBA for…the whole season. The Cavs and Spurs have, for a significant period, been up there with them. But to ignore that the Warriors have been playing at the Cavs best pace for the whole season is just ignorant, and frankly, disrespectful to those guys. They are talented, disciplined, and well coached. They don’t have flaws on offense or defense (unlike our team, which does have flaws). They are deeper than us.… Read more »
Oh. No guarantee that we beat the GSW. That’s a tough Finals. I think we win it but I don’t guarantee it.
I guarantee we make the Finals
i guarantee ATL does not lose to the Pacers
@GaryParrishCBS: Grizz guards Mike Conley and Tony Allen have both officially been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Pacers.
This will help get the Pacers in!
That all but nails down a Hawks/Pacers first round matchup… Hawks will return the favor and ensure that the Cavs face the Bulls in round two by lying down against Chicago tonight…
I really don’t think the Cavs and Hawks care who they play. They know they have good teams and that those other teams suck. I’m sure they put a ton of trust in their ability to not get beat by crappy teams.
So you don’t think any part of the fact that the Cavs took it easy on the Celtics to help them get the 7 seed and avoid having to play a more physical series against the Pacers (a series they would still win, but would be more grueling) came into play? Likewise, you don’t think on any level the Hawks would prefer to face the Celtics or the Nets for the same reason? I’m not naive enough to believe teams don’t think ahead with regard to match-ups when it comes to playoff position if there’s something they can do to… Read more »
Of course they care who they play. These professional competitors do anything they can to gain the slightest advantage over the field, including taking the path of least resistance to better ensure success. Teams avoid certain teams in the playoff seeding to make things less difficult on themselves. They ALL do it; it’s 100% logical.
Do you think LeBron teamed up with Wade and Bosh then Kyrie and Love because he likes a challenge? Get real! The only thing that matters to these guys is not failing.
The Celtics are the best draw for the Cavs. As impressive as their numbers look, they are surely benefactors of playing the Cavs zoo crew for basically six quarters. Heavily rooting for the Raptors to win the 3 seed.
The Cavs simply aren’t playoff tested yet. I’m not concerned about Kyrie or Brons approach, but I really question how important pieces like Love, TT, and Delly handle the heightened pressure. Not to mention we have a rookie head coach to the NBA. Atlanta will be our toughest test. It’s foolish to say that the Cavs will be barely tested. The target on our backs will be as big as Miamis. Chicago is gonna be the second toughest, although I have no confidence that their offense will be enough. I’m very glad that we don’t have to play Indiana, because… Read more »
This is all in your evil plan… Mike Brown was hired as a stopgap to wait until Blatt was available. You also knew that Bennett would be the perfect throw-in to the Love deal where there was enough potential and a low salary to get someone to bite, yet not enough for anyone to be upset. Stop the madness and admit it!
It would be really really funny if someone here actually was Chris Grant. BTW, Mallory doesn’t post anymore since the Cavs got good. Maybe it’s him?
Hey! Nobody else gets to have evil plans… ;)
The real evil plan would not be that Cols is Chris Grant… it would be if he was Pat Riley or Mickey Arison posing as a die-hard optimist Cavs fan, beating everyone into submission with his “Leb is great! Cavs are great! Nobody can stop them!” narrative, stirring up a hurricane of belief and eroding our sense of rational caution… then pulling the rug out when/if the Cavs lose at some point in the playoffs and laughing in all of our faces. THAT would be an EVIL plan!
Toronto will be playing Charlotte on ESPN at 7 p tonight and Indiana will be playing Memphis on ESPN at 9:30 pm tonight.
Does Memphis have anything to play for? What are the Toronto implications?
Memphis is still playing for first round homecourt advantage as the 5 seed. That’s only possible if they win.
Toronto can earn the 3 seed if they win tonight and if the Bulls lose to the Hawks.
Hard to believe the Hawks will play to win since they can basically guarantee themselves they don’t have to play the Bulls until the ECF (if they somehow beat the Cavs which they probably won’t) if they rest starters and concede this game to Chicago.
I agree with you but am still rooting for a Hawks victory nonetheless!
Fair enough. Although the game is also in Chicago…
Anyone else wonder if Cols is actually Chris Grant? He’s just waiting to make the announcement that David Griffin stole his endgame plan to create the most unbeatable team in the NBA. When the Cavs win the Finals this year (and they will), Cols will make the announcement proclaiming that “acquiring all those trade assets during my tenure set up the Cavs for this kind of sustained success!” The secret will be out of the bag and we can all finally know the name behind the unending optimism!
If I was Chris Grant we would not have drafted Bennett or Thompson (although Thompson has been put in his perfect role this year and played really well)
We would not have hired Mike Brown.
So we probably wouldn’t have sucked enough to draft Wiggins this year and then we wouldn’t have Kevin Love and probably LeBron would’ve not come back.
So thank goodness for Chris Grant I guess.
My one and only concern about this post season is Blatt. I’m pretty sure he’s up for the challenge, but he could also be the reason we don’t win the Finals.
Blatt will absolutely excel here in the postseason. His strengths as a coach match up perfectly with the demands of a postseason. With days off for rest and practice in series that are at least four games long, he will out-work every opposing coaching staff and break down opponent weaknesses. The Cavs players will be better prepared than any other team, game to game.
Odds for Cavs vs Celtics –
Per @JerryEngelmann:
CLE in 4: 20.4%
C in 5: 29.8%
C in 6: 19.5%
C in 7: 15.7%
BOS in 4: 1.0%
B in 5: 2.4%
B in 6: 5.6%
B in 7: 5.6%
C wins s:85.4 %
B w s:14.6 %
14.6% is way too high. It should be 100% to 0%
There is no way the Cavs lose. Even if Irving, Love, Smith, Shumpert, TT, Marion, Mozgov get hurt we would win this series.
^ This is great
Starting five of LeBron, Delly, Perkins, Miller, and Jones. Haywood and Harris off the bench. Could they beat Boston in a 7 game series? I do think it is very possible actually. Hahaha.
Might be possible, but MAN would that be an ugly watch!
Dear CtB
I”M JUST YELLING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS THAT THIS CAVS TEAM HAS BEEN THE BEEN THE BEST TEAM IN THE NBA FOR 3 MONTHS NOW AND YOU ARE ALL WORRIED ABOUT UNDER .500 TEAMS LIKE THE PACERS AND PLAYOFF STIFFS LIKE CHICAGO?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I understand that CtB can never be optimistic or happy, but this is ridiculous.
worried (adj): having or characterized by worry
worry (verb): to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts
“the Bulls or Pacers have some legit pieces could take us to 6 or 7 games” <– does this sound like worrying to you?
"the Cavs will probably lose to the Pacers or Bulls and cause Kevin Love to leave this summer" <– that sounds like worrying, and there has been none of that here
Better said than I was about to attempt, not worrying just enjoying the post season to the fullest!
Once again, spot on, cwzagger.
Kevin Love is not leaving. Most money and best chance to win. No one has ever said no to those things. Stop the panic!
It’s the playoffs, Cols. Nobody is being pessimistic, just reasonably cautious. This team hasn’t proven anything yet other than they could turn things around and win the second most games in the Eastern Conference. I bet if you asked your buddy, Leb, he’d agree with that sentiment. None of the rotation players outside of him have ever won anything. Many of them haven’t ever even been in a playoff game. It remains to be seen if they shine or wilt under the bright lights and physical play of the postseason. They will most likely succeed to a large degree, but… Read more »
I tend to believe and it’s been born out that in the NBA the playoffs almost always end up with the best teams in the Finals. Baseball and football are different as there is much less separating the good teams from the bad teams.
But the NBA playoffs have consistently put the best teams in the Finals. And almost all the time you can tell who the best teams are by watching the 2nd half of the season.
So Cavs GSW or Cavs Spurs.
The Hawks, Bulls, Clippers, Rockets, and Grizzlies shouldn’t even bother trying then. The second half of the regular season already decided who the three best teams are…
Cols, I’ll bet you $50 that the Finals includes a team other than the Cavs, Warriors, or Spurs. What do you say?
I’m in for this.
But only if we don’t include injuries. Because that would change things.
How can injuries be excluded? It’s a part of basketball.
Because that’s the only way one of those teams doesn’t make it.
Well define the terms specifically, and I’ll let you know if they are agreeable to me or not.
GSW Spurs and Cavs make the Finals you owe me $50
If major players on those teams, let’s go with the starters, don’t get injured and a team other than those three are in the Finals I owe you $50
If an injury to a starter occurs and then a team other than the Big Three makes the Finals I owe you $25.
Deal?
I think that sounds fair so far…I propose these amendments…you only get to bump down to $25 if the injury is to one of the following players…
Cavs: LeBron, Kyrie, Love
GSW: Curry, Klay, Draymond
SA: Duncan, Parker, Kawhi
If you agree to that, then there’s only one more thing to be ironed out, what is considered “an injury” under our terms? If a guy leaves for a quarter due to injury, odes that qualify (I’d say no.) What if a guy only misses one game in the entire playoffs? (I’d still say no.) What are you thinking?
Sounds good to me to limit it to the Big 3 of the respective teams. Although it feels weird to keep Bogut off of that list.
As far as injury, I don’t know. A quarter, no. But a game if it’s game 7? Yes. Otherwise at least 2 games in the series they lost?
You can choose Bogut or Green, whichever you want listed as the third GSW player is fine by me.
If one of those players does not play due to injury in a Game 7 and their team loses, then yes my money can drop from $50 to $25. If any of those players miss two games due to injury in a series that their team loses, then I will also accept $25 instead of $50.
Anything to add?
You want Bogut or Green listed as your third GSW player?
Nah, let’s keep Green since that’s who you originally put in there.
Deal.
Deal.
According to Hollinger’s Playoff Odds, there’s a 67.7% chance I win this bet simply on the likelihood of the Cavs not making the NBA Finals. I know that’s like speaking a foreign language to you, but it really isn’t guaranteed that the Cavs are coming out of the East. And that percentage doesn’t account for the 27.9% chance that the West is represented by a team other than GS or SA.
I like my odds. I’m curious to what others here think.
Cols, do you use Paypal?
Clearly those odds are wrong
I use paypal
My gut tells me Cols but I’m going with Ross Gumdrop.
The only thing that bothers me about this bet is that it means Ross G has put himself in a position to root for the Cavs to fail. Although, I suppose one could also look at it that if the Cavs don’t make the Finals, at least Ross G has $25-50 to drop on alcohol to get over it…
EG, I had the same quandary at first until I realized that the money doesn’t matter…I’d rather lose $50 than for the Cavs to not make the Finals! I’ll just be rooting for the West to take down the Warriors and Spurs this year!
That’s a pretty good way of looking at it too! $50 is a small price to pay for the Cavs to make the Finals. It will be a taller order for teams in the WC to take down those (likely) top two teams. You should definitely be rooting for the Pelicans to pull one out tonight to knock the Spurs down to the 3, 5 or 6 seed…
Spurs at 6 seed, having to go through the Clippers and Rockets on the road to make the WCF…I know it’s still a trendy pick, but I don’t think they get it done.
That I agree w cols! Just think along the way there could be challenges and every team has presents different ones and actually enjoys that analysis. But before I get told something for the record I believe that we win the EC. Go cavs
Here are two examples (involving former Cavs teams) that illustrate why this is not always the case… In 2007, the Cavs got by the favored Detroit Pistons. Not because the Cavs were a better team as much as because the Cavs had one player in LeBron who went absolutely nuts in Game 6 and used arguably one of the greatest playoff performances of all time to take them down in the fourth quarter and overtime. Detroit was the better team… the “chalk team” as you like to say. Not unlike a superior Cavs team that got beat by another singular… Read more »
1. That Cavs team had the very best player in the NBA as they do now
2. That Magic team had Dwight Howard who was…A HUGE SUPERSTAR
3. That Cavs team was complete trash outside of LeBron
No team in the East has a star like Howard. This Cavs team has two other stars in Irving and Love.
That Cavs team that won 66 games? They were a great team, but the Magic had a great plan and matched up perfectly against the Cavs. They weren’t necessarily a better team.
And since you’re playing ‘count the stars’ you could even look at the 2010-11 Miami Heat team that lost to the Mavs, who ONLY had ONE STAR, in Dirk.
Yeah, there are basically two outliers in my stars argument in the history of the NBA.
1. The 2004 or wahtever Pistons
2. The 2010 or whatever MAverivcks
But, those Pistons had Rasheed and Hamilton and the Mavericks got unreal play from their HOF Kidd and Nowitzi
That Cavs team won 66 games
Lost LeBron
Won 19 games
They were trash outside of LeBron.
Yes we remember… They also lost West, Wally, Shaq, Z…
So they lost 4 guys that were out of the NBA in a year? I don’t think that’s an argument in your favor.
They were veterans that contributed to the teams success. I’m not suggesting that they would have been great by any measure but that year they were important.
1. Yes, but the best TEAM did not win
2. Are you saying that Dwight was a bigger superstar than LBJ? Also, he magically hit free throws that series which he hasn’t really done before or since…
3. It’s comical that you call a 66 win team trash. And really, what did the Magic have outside of Dwight? Jameer Nelson? Hedo Turkoglu? Rashard Lewis? Mikel Pietrus? Talk about trash…
Calm down already. I’m only trying to get through this article and I keep stopping with your comments. Please don’t make me do it again further down. I understand this is not the early days of the internet so please stop behaving like it is.
Anyone hear any updates on Kyrie’s hip? As long as he’s healthy and able to stay with Smart and Thomas, I don’t see the Cavs having any difficulty making quick work of the Celtics. Sure, they could wind up in some closer games than they should if they turn the ball over too much to the Celtic’s active D, or settle for too many outside shots, but Boston is not good enough to take a game from the Cavs in a series. The only way they drop even a game is if they beat themselves by being overconfident or looking… Read more »
Yep. Their big man rotation is pretty awful. If not for Brad Stevens that team would be pretty bad. Best coach in the NBA!
We will all once again lament the day Tyler Zeller was let go when he summarily posterizes the City of Cleveland in leading his Celtics to an historic first round upset of the Cavs.
The sad thing is that Nate probably actually believes this.
Chicago plays Atlanta tonight. If Atlanta is smart, which they are, they will tank this game and give it to Chicago. They don’t want to face the Bulls in the 2nd round. I think Atlanta could have an easy road to the ECF playing Nets and then the Raps/Wiz.
ATL doesn’t care who they face just like the Cavs don’t care. They know they are one of the two best teams in the East. The biggest problem for ATL and CLE is not looking too far ahead to playing each other. There’s almost no reason to play the rest of the eastern conference playoffs except for the ECF.
Well thank goodness they actually play the games instead of just handing a team the trophy! What an awful sports world it would be if the team I loved watching actually had a 0% chance to fail.
It’s true for this year though. The Cavs have almost no chance of losing before the Finals. Unless injuries happen.
Right, *almost” no chance of losing. It just wouldn’t be very exciting without the possibility of failure, that’s all I’m acknowledging.
Personally, I WANT the Cavs to hit a rough spot in the playoffs. Make it interesting. What is more entertaining, four consecutive 7-game series or four sweeps en route to a title? I’d have more fun (and likely a lot more booze) in the former scenario.
Four sweeps would be the best outcome possible!!!!!!!!!!
LOL well guess we know where your head is at. I would find that boring, no challenge. Shows how differently some fans are wired.
You should place that bet Cols I am sure you could some decent payback on that. I am just betting we win the series and get to finals, then we will see. Best team in East without a doubt, best in League is still up in the air but personally I believe we will win it excluding unmentionables
I remember when the Cavs had no chance of losing once before. Then they ended up losing in 6. Do you remember that? Do you remember who the best player in the NBA played for then? Was it Cleveland or was it Orlando or was it Boston or was it Detroit or was it San Antonio? “What have the Bulls done ever in the post season? Lose to LBJ” What have the Cavs ever done in the post season? Lose to Boston. Who do the Cavs play in the first round? Ruh roh! Not believing for one second Cavs will… Read more »
Agreed. Atlanta plays their bottom eight.
That’s if they don’t wind up playing the Pacers in the first round. Pacers/Hawks would be a fun series to watch…
Oh yeah I’m definitely hoping for that. I went from rooting for Washington last night to cheering for the Pacers. Pacers need to beat Memphis tonight. I don’t think it happens and even think the crappy Nets can beat a crappy Magic team at home.
Atlanta doesn’t care about facing the Pacers. A much worse Atlanta team took a much better Pacers team to 7 last year. This year’s ATL team is pretty good while this year’s Pacers team is terrible. They need to get rid of everyone except George, Miles, and Hill and start new.
They suck and ATL will kill them.
The Pacers have earned their #8 seed (for now) with Paul George sidelined all the way until a couple weeks ago. With George back, they much more closely resemble the ECF team of the past two years. Even if they aren’t THAT good they could still be one of the deadliest 8 seeds we’ve seen in a while.
Regardless of how you rate their threat level to the Cavs, it’s not unrealistic to claim that the Pacers are the second to third most worrisome team in the conference.
It is unrealistic. A team that peaked last year and go destroyed by LBJ and almost lost to a worse ATL team? It’s madness to suggest that they will make to 6 games, let alone win a series. ATL will crush them.
They scored what 81 points last night in regulation, in a game they had to win at home against a not good Wizards team who was resting guys?
Just because they were decent the last few years doesn’t mean that they are still decent. They sucked all year and will get crushed.
Cols, does it ever make you stop and reconsider your opinion when you realize you are the only one who has it? Or do you take some kind of sick pleasure in being the lone voice to take up a viewpoint? I’m guessing the latter.
FtS thinks like me. This is the only Cavs blog that doesn’t think the Cavs are the best team in the NBA and are worried about garbage #8 seeds.
I think the Cavs are the best team in the NBA. I do not think they will lose in the EC. I think you’re putting words in some of our mouths. I personally am acknowledging that the Pacers are probably the team we should be second-most threatened by. In three consecutive years, a healthy Pacers team has taken a LeBron-led team to 6, 7, and 6 games. Not half bad. The Pacers are becoming healthy now. Paul George is a top-10 player and the Hibbert recently was DPOY. Forgive me for simply guessing that they are better than their seeding… Read more »
I co-sign everything cwzagger just said. We aren’t saying the Cavs are going to lose in the East playoffs. I will be disappointed if they don’t make the Finals honestly. It’s just that you go to such a far extreme to disparage any other teams as even being able to push the Cavs. You somewhat overrate the Cavs and severely underrate other teams.
For the record… Differences between 2013-14 and 2014-15 Hawks roster… Added: Kent Bazemore, Austin Daye and Thabo Sefalosha (injured) Lost: Gustavo Ayon, Jared Cunningham, Cartier Martin, Dexter Pittman and Lou Williams Differences between 2013-14 and 2014-15 Pacers roster… Added: CJ Miles, Damjan Rudez, Rodney Stuckey, Shayne Whittington Lost: Rasual Butler, Andrew Bynum, Danny Granger, Orlando Johnson, Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner Yes, the Pacers lost Lance Stephenson, but the Hawks lost the arguable Sixth Man of the Year in Lou Williams. In terms of what they added, you’d have to give the edge to the Pacers with Miles and Stuckey… Read more »
EG, let’s not let facts get in the way of opinions here.
Oh… right, I forgot who I was debating with… ;)
Great discussions but aparentlly we crazy cavs fans are the only ones who look at these scenarios and everybody else sucks.
I so want to see the Atlanta play Pacers due to the physical nature of pacers game. Which is the same reason I didn’t want us to play them. And before somebody tells me I am crazy, I believe that we will win….
You’re crazy! The Pacers stink! Cavs will sweep everyone. My hair is on fire!
Lol! Coming from you Arch I will have to reconsider my thoughts. Let’s get this going before we all lose it. I believe that we will….win!
Yes. Except we won’t sweep everyone
First round sweep
2nd round 5 games
ECF 5 or 6 games
Finals 7 games.
We will sweep the Celtics. But we would’ve also swept the Pacers, Nets, or Heat. It doesn’t really matter who we play in the first round. James has lost only a few 1st round playoff games in his entire career.
So we’ll get a sweep, the n a 5 gamer vs the Bulls so we will be well rested for the Hawks who we should be able to take care of in 6.
Then a tough series against GSW.
If that does indeed end up as our path, I would predict the following:
Sweep Boston
Beat Chicago in 6
Beat Atlanta in 6
Lose to Golden State in 7
There’s no way Chicago takes us to 6.
We will beat GSW in 6 or 7.
I think Brad Stevens is the best coach in the NBA.
That’s right because Chicago could take us to 7.
Sigh. I don’t know how you can watch the best team in the NBA for last few months and look at Chicago’s terrible playoff history and think this. Chicago has zero guys on their team who are better than Kevin Love.
In 2008-9 they took the champion Celtics to 7 games in the first round.
That’s your ervidence? That 7 years ago they lost.
That’s 6 years ago and who cares? The Cavs aren’t playoff tested and the Bulls are. I could see the Cavs beating them in 5, but I could also see them losing or going to 7 games. The Bulls are a good playoff team. I would not take them lightly. Ultimately I think the Cavs do win, but it will be a hard battle and I think that’s the point I’m trying to make. (For sake of the conversation) Beating the Celtics in 4 is much easier than beating the Bulls in 4. You get my drift?
What have the Bulls done ever in the post season? Lose to LBJ. That’s all they do. Even their best team in 2010 or whatever they couldn’t get passes LeBron.
You are really underestimating how great this Cavs team has been for the last 3 months. They have been the best team in the NBA.
They’ve made it to the conference finals and conference semi-finals. They’ve been in the playoffs every year since 2004-5 except 2007-8. The Cavs haven’t been in the playoffs since 2009-10.
Thank goodness we have LeBron! I don’t know if we appreciate enough that the best player in the NBA by a wide margin plays for the Cavs.
The margin isn’t as wide anymore as you think it is.
All I know is: the Cavs have to go out and play the games.
Predictions eventually run up against what actually will have transpired–and any rotten estimations will turn out to be recollected here, later.
How about the Cavs playoff history the last 4 years?
Terrible playoff history?? I guess my memory isn’t what it used to be. Can you guys tell me again what team Michael Jordan played on? Google and Wiki keep coming up with the wrong answer.
What the Bulls have or have not done in prior post seasons is entirely irrelevant to how they will fare this year.