James, Cavaliers must quiet the doubters again
There is a team whose stars posted careerbest numbers while it developed an elite bench.
It ranks in the NBA’s top 10 for offense and defense. It adapted its offense seamlessly and won a franchise-record, Eastern Conferenceleading 59 games.
And this team, the Toronto Raptors, still is not the East’s outright playoff favorite.
Though Toronto, Boston and Philadelphia all emerged as challengers in the East, TNT and Turner Sports analyst Kevin McHale said he’d still take Cleveland, the defending conference champion, over “any one of those teams.”
“Philly vs. Cleveland, I’d pick Cleveland,” McHale said. “If you said Boston vs. Cleveland, I’d pick Cleveland. If you said Toronto vs. Cleveland, I’d pick Cleveland. I’m not saying Cleveland will win. I just pick those guys because they have LeBron [James].”
McHale values the regular season as a playoff indicator and compliments how defensively inclined Raptors coach Dwane Casey transformed his offense to improve after being swept by Cleveland in last year’s conference semifinals.
McHale also will not deny the talent and will of James as he seeks an eighth consecutive NBA Finals appearance. James, in his 15th season, set or tied career highs for assists (9.1) and rebounds (8.6) while averaging 27.5 points. Revamping the roster and restoring roles helped star forward Kevin Love.
But the Cavaliers were laden with dysfunction and absent of defense, which rated them 29th in that category before coach Tyronn Lue said it will be “totally different” in the postseason.
“It always scares me to say ‘I haven’t done it for 82 games but now I am going to do it,’ ” McHale said. “I have yet to see that honestly in all my years. It’s like saying we walked it up all year long for 82 games and, in the playoffs, now we’re going to run. That just doesn’t work.”
James’ presence gives Cleveland a benefit of the doubt despite looking vulnerable and finishing fourth in the East. Also, the opposition has obstacles to overcome: the past playoff dips of Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Boston losing Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving to season-ending injuries, and Philadelphia’s youth and inexperience.
“[The Cavaliers] are starting to play with a more democratic system,” said Kobe Bryant, whose “Detail” show launched Thursday on ESPN’s new streaming service. “See LeBron at the elbow at the top of the key being the Draymond Green of the Cavs, while the other players, whether it’s Jordan Clarkson or Kevin Love, are running corner split games, playing a rip action, doing stuff on the weak side where they’re moving off the ball. That makes them infinitely more dangerous.”
Boston largely earned the No. 2 seed because of Irving before knee surgery sidelined him for the playoffs. The Celtics must rely on a league-leading defense and get scoring from youngsters like rookie Jayson Tatum.
“By and large, I love what I’m seeing from him, especially on the defensive end,” Bryant said of Tatum. “Most young players coming [into the NBA] nowadays just want to do the cute stuff. He seems to be the kind of player that doesn’t mind getting dirty and being physical and playing hard at both ends.”
Philadelphia also has to lean on a rookie, but Ben Simmons is a playmaking star who almost averaged a triple-double as the 76ers won their last 16 games.
“He’s old-school in that he can control the game and never take a three,” McHale said. “He’ll probably never take a shot outside eight feet and still put an unbelievable fingerprint on that game.”