The Cavs could choose to sit players in preparation for the NBA Playoffs. There are pros and cons of that decision.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coach, Tyronn Lue, released a statement earlier this week that the team’s main concern is resting players before the NBA Playoffs, not earning the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
As most people are wondering, is rest really worth falling in playoff seeding for? Obviously, there’s different ways you can look into this. For one, when there isn’t much other talent in the Eastern Conference, resting can be an ideal idea. On the other hand, the Miami Heat have looked really good against the Cavs.
As everyone has known all season, the Cavaliers’ depth is very slim, especially in reliable talent. Because of that, making sure stars like LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving are well rested is a major concern for the Cavs going forward, as it should be. Everyone say how last year’s playoffs ended up destroying the health of the Cavaliers and in some minds’ costing them the NBA Finals.
Knowing that they won’t drop below a two seed in the playoffs, rest may be the most important part of these last few weeks. Now, the teams sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoffs currently don’t seem to be much of a threat to Cleveland. Teams like the Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, or Detroit Pistons won’t be much of a concern for the Cavs, because none of them have given Cleveland much trouble this season.
However, the Miami Heat have caused all sorts of concern for the Cavaliers, and they sit very close to them at the number three seed in the East.
This won’t affect the Cavaliers first round game, but it will affect their second round matchup. Any Cavalier will agree that playing a team like the Bobcats or Celtics would be much better than playing the Heat. This is where the problem comes in. No matter what, the Heat or Toronto Raptors are the likely opponent of the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals, but having to face one before hand isn’t promising. By bumping down to the two seed in the East, the Cavaliers run a big risk of having to play two teams they really don’t want to.
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If you look at it like this, there’s no favorite on the decision the Cavaliers have to make. You can either keep health a concern and most likely have to player both the Heat and the Raptors, or risk having last season’s health catastrophe happen once again.
Of course, Coach Lue has the final say in the matter and it looks like rest is the choice. Lets just hope it’s the right one.
Do you think the Cavs should focus on rest or the #1 seed?