Cavs Are the Tiger Woods of the East
The Cleveland Cavaliers currently sit in the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. They are 1 game up on both the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors going into tonight’s slate of games. They still sit 11 games back of the front running Atlanta Hawks but we will get to them later.
Tonight the Cavs take on the tough Dallas Mavericks, and their interesting pairing of Rajon Rondo and Rick Carlisle, while the Raptors take on the surging Spurs and the Bulls take a night off. Both games tonight are tough but the Cavs are more likely to add another game to their lead over Toronto, and a half game more over the Bulls, than to end up tied at the end of the night.
How did we get here? How did we get to the place where the Cavs are alone with the 2nd seed after just a month or two ago being much farther out?
First and foremost the Cavaliers have played well. On January 15th the Cavs were 20-20 and looking down a long barrel of a tough season failing to meet expectations. Now, almost a full 2 months later, the Cavs are 40 – 25 having gone 20 – 5 since the middle of January. The Cavs are just playing well and have seemed to really come together.
Yet, even going 20 – 5, it seemed very difficult that the Cavs would be able to make up enough difference to take over the 2nd seed before the middle of March. On Jan. 15th the Bulls and Raptors were up 7 games on the Cavs. They both seemed to have things moving forward well and were going to make things tough on the Cavs to make up ground to have homecourt advantage in the 2nd round.
This is where the Tiger Woods analogy comes into play. The Cavs started playing well and then pretty quickly the Bulls and Raptors stopped. Since the 15th of January the Bulls are 12 – 10 while the Raptors are 12 – 13. It is not a coincidence that these two things have happened.
When Tiger Woods was at his prime, PGA Tour players would talk about how they felt him on the prowl. They would see the leader board, they would hear the crowd and they would start to press. Tiger was so dominate, had so much talent and had so much intimidation factor that his mere presence could destroy another professional golfer. That is some power.
The same thing seems to be happening to the Bulls and Raptors. While the Bulls struggle with injuries, when don’t they, and the Raptors have struggled with consistent play, the Cavs keep chugging along. Yet the Bulls and Raptors hear the footsteps of the on coming train that is the LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love led locomotive.
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Even the Hawks hear it a little bit but their huge lead in the East gives them comfort that the Cavs will not overtake them. It was evident that the Hawks took their game against the Cavs very serious. The Hawks put a ton of effort into the win, 106 – 9 7, in a game that was close for most of the time. They exerted so much effort that they needed to rest 3 starters the next night. They lost to the 76ers. In a playoff series, the Hawks won’t have that option. They may be able to get up for a game or two, but the Cavs machine will keep on chugging.
For years Tiger Woods would chase down his competition with the help of his great skill and instilling fear into their hearts. LeBron has done similar with his chase down blocks. Players slow down to avoid him or try to rush their shots. Fear is a great weapon in sports.
The Cavs have used a Tiger Woods-ian presence to chase down the Bulls and Raptors. Where the standings end up is up in the air at this point. What is clear is that the Cavs have the power to impact their competition, even when not on the court together.
What do you think of the comparison of the Cavs with Tiger Woods?