Apr 10, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Cavaliers
By Nicholas Hughes
Record: 53-29
First Round Opponent: Boston Celtics
Season Series: Tied 2-2
Lebron James is entering the NBA Playoffs on a team with a couple of other big names. They’re the consensus pick to win the Eastern Conference and they’re deemed a legitimate threat to take home the biggest prize in basketball. This feels oddly familiar…
King James has reached the postseason in all but his first two seasons in the association. Say what you will about his performance in the clutch, but the man has an unquestioned knack for getting his team into those situations.
The reason this playoff preview of the team is sounding more like a player profile of Lebron is because by many measures he created this team. His actions over the past 13 years have directly resulted in what the now playoff bound, Cleveland Cavaliers, look like.
Arguably the most sought after prospect in the history of professional basketball, Lebron James was tasked with rehabilitating the sports image of an entire city. The pressure to excel was immense and only seemed to grow season by season, but he continued to perform and mature as a player. After years of going back and forth with the Cavs about the lack of talent they were bringing in to help him make a run at a title, the Akron native took it upon himself to teach the organization a lesson. He jumped ship to form one of the most successful Big-3s in the history of professional sports.
While he padded his own resume with MVP awards, Finals appearances, and championships in South Beach, his hometown squad was forced to rebuild through the draft and smart financial moves. Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Anthony Bennett, and Andrew Wiggins were all drafted by the Cavaliers as a result of the King heading to the Miami Heat. Then the unthinkable happened, a homecoming of epic proportions. The front office knew that moves had to be made to give Lebron the right pieces this time like they had failed to do in years past. Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, and Timofey Mozgov were all brought in just for the sake of keeping him satisfied.
Now the second-seeded Cavaliers will draw the Boston Celtics as the seventh seed. A team that has picked up a recent win over the Cavaliers, but doesn’t really looks poised to win 4 games in a series against them. In the second round, they’ll likely be matched up against the Chicago Bulls assuming that the East’s third seed can defeat the sixth seed. The Bulls certainly have their strengths but in all likelihood don’t really stand a chance against the Cavaliers. In the Eastern Conference Finals, many hope to see the Atlanta Hawks standing opposite Lebron and company.
A clash of styles and personas akin to what we’ve been treated to in the past two NBA Finals meetings between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. While the Hawks have truly had a dream season, it has just become too hard to bet against a Lebron James led organization making it to the Finals in recent years.
The Cavaliers have their strengths such as their top-5 rated offense and the superstars they pack in the form of James, Irving, and Love. They also come with some weakness however. They’re ranked in the bottom half of the league defensively. Of all playoff bound teams only the Nets, Raptors, Pelicans, and Mavericks boast worse defensive ratings than the Cleveland Cavaliers. That means a team like the Hawks or Raptors could potentially take advantage of a few defensive miscues and send the Cavs home early.
Next: Healthy Rose?