Will LeBron?
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were somewhat overlooked this season, amid what the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs were doing in the Western Conference. However, with that said, the Cavaliers still managed to finish with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Question is, will LeBron once again run through the Eastern Conference, as he’s done in each of the last five seasons? The easy answer is yes. Obviously. But is it the right one?
For all we know, the Cavs are once again the prohibitive favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, and that’s been the case every since LeBron penned that he would be taking his talents back to Cleveland. However, LeBron hasn’t looked like his old dominant self this season – he’s having his worst three-point shooting season in quite some time (30 percent) and struggles from anywhere outside the paint for the most part (he’s shooting 34 percent on 10-24 foot jump shots).
Apart from that, his supporting cast hasn’t looked that much better either. Kevin Love still looks out of place and Kyrie Irving never looks comfortable playing of the ball. Couple that with some better competition that they could face en route to the Finals, from a scrappy Hawks team to a much improved Raptors squad or even a Heat time that appears to have his numbers, and this could be LeBron’s most difficult test out East yet (in recent history).
The road to the Finals is there for LeBron and the Cavs, but it won’t be easy.
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