Cavaliers take hits for resting stars

The NBA has a problem. For the second Saturday night, a nationally televised game was missing some big stars.

The Cavaliers chose to rest LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving against the Clippers one week after Warriors coach Steve Kerr sat out most of his starters against the Spurs. For following the Warriors’ lead, the Cavs drew criticism from ABC analysts and Hall of Famer Karl Malone.

Jeff Van Gundy called it a “prosecutable offense” and said that delivering a different product than advertised “would not be tolerated in any other business.” Mark Jackson called the continued practice of resting stars “an absolute joke.”

Said Malone to ESPN’s Sage Steele: “It’s not work — it’s called ‘playing.’ ” Clippers coach and president of basketball operations

Doc Rivers distanced himself from rumors about a possible move to the Magic in the summer, telling reporters in Los Angeles that while he had a past with the team, he has “no future. My future’s here.” Rivers’ comments do nothing to change the underlying reality in Orlando, where the Magic are in the fifth year of their rebuilding project and still cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel.