We hear it all the time about how regular season games don’t matter—especially a game on opening night.
And for the most part it’s true.
What happens in October really doesn’t have any bearing on how a team ultimately performs or how far they go in the playoffs.
But like every rule there are exceptions.
This particular off-season saw a lot of roster tweaking amongst the teams at the top. The rich got richer at the expense of the middle-class and lower-class teams and as a result, we’re headed for what could potentially be not only one of the greatest postseasons but also one of the most unpredictable.
Never have so many teams been considered legitimate contenders. The easiest way to determine if a team is a contender is by asking yourself if you’d be surprised if Team X wins the title?
And right now there are only five teams that we can say that about and three of them reside in the Eastern Conference.
That’s why the opening night game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics has proved thus far to be the game that set both teams on their current paces.
How important is the top-seed in the Eastern Conference? Extremely important when you consider that the teams that finish second and third will have to face each other in the Conference Semi-Finals while the top-seeded team will most likely end up going against the Hawks, Heat, Wizards, or Raptors.
Which sounds like an easier road to the Larry O’Brien trophy?
If two teams are tied at season’s end the first tie-breaker in determining who gets the higher seed and homecourt advantage is head-to-head record.
Now keep in mind that the last 15 games between the Cavs and Celtics prior to opening night were won by the home team.
Also don’t forget that the Cavs went a remarkable 39-2 on their home floor last season and that included an overtime loss to the 76ers on the last day of the season in which LeBron James and Mo Williams were kept out of the lineup.
So much of what makes a team tough to beat is mental. There’s a swagger that teams have, especially at home, that says “No matter what, we’re not losing this game.”
After whispers all summer long about the health of Kevin Garnett and the age of the Celtics starting lineup, and even louder whispers about how well Shaquille O’Neal would coexist with LeBron James, opening night was the night for one of the two to silence their critics—at least for a little while.
And for the first 5:45 of the game it looked like that team was going to be Cleveland.
Up 19-5, the Cavs looked like the Shaq experiment was going to work and the Celtics looked confused and old.
And then the tables turned.
From that point on the Celtics outscored the Cavs 90-70 and won by a score of 95-89.
Heading into Friday night’s games, the Celtics are 6-0 and have yet to give up more than 90 points to an opponent.
Meanwhile, the Cavs are 3-3, and after Thursday night’s home loss to the Chicago Bulls, have already lost as many times at home through four games this season as they did in 41 games last year.
More importantly, the Cavs are now 5-11 in their last 16 games against the Celtics (2-3), Magic (3-6), and Lakers (0-2), including last season’s playoffs.
Not only have the Celtics started out perfect but everything else seems to have gone right for them since that game. Their prize off-season acquisitions, Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, have fit in seamlessly. Rajon Rondo inked a five-year, $55 million contract extension just before the deadline which will prevent the Celtics from having to match a ridiculous offer from a team like Miami next summer.
Kevin Garnett has looked healthier and healthier with each successive game and Ray Allen looks like he deserves that big money extension when he hits free agency next July.
On the flip side, the Cavs didn’t just lose a game. They lost a little bit of that home swagger. The Bulls aren’t going to be the only team that will go into Quicken Loans Arena thinking they can win a game there.
The Cavs also lost the grace period that teams are usually afforded after making a big trade. There are already rumors out there about the Cavs making a run at Allen Iverson.
But worst of all, they’ve raised the anxiety level of a fan base that is so afraid of losing it’s superstar just days after watching two former Indians pitchers, both Cy Young Award winners, face one another in Game One of the World Series.
Friday night LeBron makes his only trip of the season to Madison Square Garden. The timing couldn’t be worse for Cavs fans. In the midst of a 3-3 start the Cavs are in New York the day that New Yorkers are celebrating their World Series champions with a parade.
There is not shortage of LeBron-to-the-Knicks stories in the New York tabloids or dozens of other newspapers and websites across the United States today.
In every city the Cavs travel to there will be reporters daydreaming about LeBron playing in their town in 2010—just like there were with Chris Webber in 2001, Jason Kidd in 2003, and Kobe Bryant in 2004.
As long as the Cavs continue to fall behind the Celtics in their quest for the top seed in the Eastern Conference those possibilities will ring louder and louder in the ears of Cavs fans—like those of a cellular phone in a movie theater that goes unanswered.
Every loss will be magnified and every win will be more relief than glory.
The good news for Clevelanders is that after Friday night’s game with the Knicks, the Cavs have four days off to prepare for a road game with another top team—the Orlando Magic.
Lose that game and the whispers of their demise and LeBron’s imminent departure will become more resonant.
Win that game and you might shut some people up.
At least for a couple days.
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