The regular season doesn’t mean as much anymore in the NBA, and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first game tonight is no exception.
There are plenty of people who are intrigued by this Cleveland Cavaliers-Boston Celtics game to kick off the season. I would consider myself to be one of those people, too. The NBA is full of weird, passive-aggressive relationships between ex-teammates these days, and this falls right into that ever-expanding category. Kyrie Irving will be taking on his old squad on national TV, which makes for a compelling start to the NBA regular season.
Nonetheless, this game does not mean much of anything in the grand scheme. Cavs fans probably have all kinds of opinions about Irving at this point, and he probably doesn’t care. That’s fine for both parties. That being said, this particular matchup should get an asterisk.
Both the Celtics and Cavs have so many new faces, and there are some unfortunate injuries to key players. Isaiah Thomas is obviously out for a while, and LeBron James has been nursing an injured ankle, and it’s unclear how much he’ll play or how effective he will be.
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With that alone, I wouldn’t read too much into this game, because James sets up so much of the game plan on both ends for the Cavaliers.
With him not nearly 100 percent and having to guard someone like Gordon Hayward or Jaylen Brown on the wing, and occasionally Irving in pick-and-roll, it’s understandable that he’s not as productive defensively.
Along with that, he might not be as explosive when driving to the basket in half-court sets or transition. That could at times cause the offense to downgrade to iso-ball from Dwyane Wade or Derrick Rose, and the spot-up threats could be neutralized.
Lastly, it’s the new rotations of these Eastern Conference powers that makes plenty of room for error in the first game of the year.
How will the Cavs “Bench Mob” minutes be managed with J.R. Smith, Jeff Green, and Kyle Korver as the notable subs to start the season? Does inconsistent rotation three-and-D guy Iman Shumpert provide some quality defense on Irving? Richard Jefferson is also no longer on the roster, and he was a steady player for Tyronn Lue who teammates could count on.
It’s uncertain how Tyronn Lue will deploy his bench weapons in the early part of the season for the Cavs, and Boston has some bench rotation questions to figure out as well. The aforementioned Brown, and rookies Semi Ojeleye and Jayson Tatum should have some playing time in this one, and I’m not sure how the Cavs will match up with them. Ex-Detroit Pistons Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris could also play key roles for Boston moving forward, but both will not likely be factors in this game.
To make a long story short, I get that Irving forced his way out of Cleveland, and all that comes with him and LeBron maybe not seeing eye-to-eye. This is just one game, though, and a regular season game at that, so there’s not much to it in a basketball sense.
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If the Cavs win, great. If not, it’s no big deal. Regardless, the complexion of both teams and their rotations will probably be drastically different by the All-Star break.