Cleveland Cavaliers Playoff Preview

[Giantmetfan07]

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers' season makes more sense if you think of it as two seasons.
 
In the first one, the Cavaliers were a disaster. We expected some growing pains with the LeBron James/Kyrie Irving/Kevin Love union, but not like what we saw through the 39th game of the year. The three stars weren't bonding, the rest of the roster was a disaster defensively and the experiment was blowing up in everyone's faces. James sulked throughout, delivering passive-aggressive messages while seeing his own play decline. A loss in Phoenix dropped Cleveland to 19-20, light years away from title contention.
 

Two things happened to reverse Cleveland's path in the second season. James took a two-week break to recharge his battered body and general manager David Griffin orchestrated a series of deals to acquire complimentary talent in Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. Mozgov plugged a leaky middle, while Smith and Shumpert patched up holes on the wing, where Dion Waiters had not worked out.
 
Suddenly, Cleveland looked like the dominant team we expected. James looked like he jumped into the fountain of youth, the newcomers blended seamlessly and Irving reached another level. The Cavaliers finished the season 34-9, with a point differential that rivaled the Spurs and Warriors. There were problems that bubbled beneath the surface -- Love's role and health, simmering tension between James and coach David Blatt -- but they weren't costing Cleveland games.
 
Yet as we all know, the success of the Cleveland experiment depends on the playoffs, the third season within the season.
 
How they beat you
 
With the most explosive offense in the league. Cleveland is scoring more than 111 points per 100 possessions since Jan. 14, which would lead the league by nearly two points if accrued over an entire season. Cleveland has two unstoppable forces in James and Irving and the spacing to give them all the room they need to go to work. Smith is dangerous as a spot-up three-point shooter, Mozgov and Tristan Thompson dive down the lane and Love, despite all his fit issues, cannot be left at any point.