Let’s be clear. The favourite for this season’s NBA Finals will not come from the Eastern Conference.
Be it Golden State, San Antonio or Oklahoma City (sorry Portland, but some guy called Steph Curry is back on the court), whoever wins the Western Conference Finals will be the frontrunners for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll win it.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have gone about their work in the playoffs in devastating fashion. Detroit, who won their regular season match-up against the Cavs, were swept aside 4-0, as were the Atlanta Hawks.
Neither series posed much of a challenge to LeBron James and company.
It’s a far cry from the regular season, when Cleveland, despite claiming the East’s number one seed, did little to indicate they were genuine title contenders.
There were serious issues; Kevin Love seemed lost in an offence where James and Kyrie Irving both demanded the ball. Irving didn’t really seem comfortable sharing the rock with another ball-dominant player, let alone two.
The biggest issue, of course, was the coach. David Blatt was fired in early January despite an excellent 83-40 record with the franchise. His questionable leadership skills were causing chemistry issues.
Even with Tyronn Lue replacing Blatt, things still didn’t seem great for last year’s vanquished finalists. They finished just a single game ahead of the Toronto Raptors in the East, and some were predicting a tough series against Detroit.
Since the start of the playoffs, the Cavs have been a formidable outfit. Sweeping the Pistons was no earth-shattering feat – Detroit are a young side whose best years lie in wait – but the way they dismantled the Hawks is a warning sign for the other remaining teams.
The Cavs’ Big Three of James, Irving and Love looked in sync against Atlanta. They shared the ball, and each star got his fair share of points. For the first time since moving from Minnesota, Love is looking comfortable in the Cavaliers offence.
Just as importantly, Cleveland made 77 three-pointers against Atlanta, a record for a four-game playoff series. That they did it against an elite defensive unit – the Hawks had the best defence in the league during the second half of this season – bodes well for their championship hopes.
“We’ve never seen three-point shooting like this ever. Not from the Cavs, not from any team in NBA history,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said.
Whether they can maintain their outside efficiency remains to be seen, but this new era of the NBA has made it possible for jump-shooting teams to win it all.
Keep in mind that, when Cleveland lost to the Warriors in last season’s Finals, they were banged up. Love’s shoulder had been wrenched out of its socket by Boston’s Kelly Olynyk early in the playoffs, and Irving fractured his kneecap late in Game 1 against Golden State.
Today, they are fully-fit and playing a brand of basketball well and truly suited to the modern NBA. LeBron might not be the league’s best player anymore, but he remains its most versatile and showed in Game 4 against Atlanta he is one of the better closers in the game.
They have two other genuine scoring threats in Irving and Love. Tristan Thompson is an excellent, versatile defender who is extremely mobile for a big man. When he’s on his game, Josh Smith is lethal.
On paper, of course, the Warriors and Spurs, and possibly the Thunder, are all better than Cleveland. But whoever emerges from the West will likely be fatigued from two arduous playoff series.
The Spurs and Thunder will play at least six games in their current series, and a similarly long Western Conference Finals is likely should Golden State account for Portland.
In contrast, Cleveland have played a total of eight games so far in this post season, and there are few signs that either Toronto or Miami – one of whom will face the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals – have what it takes to cause an upset.
The Spurs and Warriors both deserve their current favouritism – excellent rosters, adroit coaches and two historically excellent seasons don’t count for nothing.
But a seven-game series against a well-rested, fully-fit and fully-firing Cleveland outfit will be no sure thing.
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have endured plenty of pain in their 35 years of being a laughing stock in the NBA. In all that time,…
