Cleveland Cavaliers: Bucks, 76ers are the two teams Cleveland shouldn’t want in the first round
The Cleveland Cavaliers are almost guaranteed to make it out of the first round, but the Bucks and 76ers are the two teams that could give them trouble.
Nine games. In nine games we will find out without a shadow of a doubt who the Cleveland Cavaliers will play in the first round. Until then, we are left predicting which of these matchups are ideal for Cleveland.
The five teams still able to realistically change their potential seed are the Bucks, Heat, Wizards, Pacers, and Cavs, ranking 8-3 in that order. Currently, the Cavs would take on the Wizards, a team the Cavs have beaten two of three times this season.
The Cavs have yet to face the Wizards in a postseason matchup since the return of LeBron. However, as many of you know, it isn’t Cleveland’s fault this matchup hasn’t taken place.
The Wizards, who have generally been a solid regular season team, have yet to figure out how to make the Eastern Conference Finals. This is the same team that continues to grow their current roster instead of branching out and creating some noise with their assets in the trade market. The Wizards aren’t a threat this season, but with the budding Otto Porter Jr. it might not be too long before they are an actual threat.
As for the opening round, it’s the 76ers and Bucks that the Cavs shouldn’t want to see. Since James return, the Cavs haven’t lost a first-round game, but this postseason seems like the chance for a team to snag at least one. This team seems a bit frailer than last year’s team. A bit less formidable.
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While King James will certainly get his own buckets, it’ll be the teams that possess a bigger, stronger forward to guard James that will be best equipped to beat the Cavs at least once. The Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 76ers Ben Simmons are two of the most versatile defenders in the Eastern Conference.
Both players are in the top 50 in defensive real plus/minus, a stat that “estimates the on-court impact on team defensive performance, measured in points allowed per 100 defensive possessions.”
While stats mean little against an offensive juggernaut like LeBron James, the mixture of length and speed that these two possess should at least limit his production.
Giannis stands 6-foot-11 and has a 7-foot-3 wingspan. With his agility, those physical traits are extremely rare among players that can also play point guard. As for Simmons, he stands 6-foot-10 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan.
With the unmatched energy of a player under 25 looking to knock off the NBA’s best generational talent, these two will be the most difficult individual opponents to potentially match up with Cleveland in the first round.
The Bucks and the 76ers are the two potentially lower seeded teams to have the best chance to knock off a higher seed, and hopefully it isn’t the beloved Cavaliers.
The Wizards, Pacers, and Heat do have players that can guard James. While it might not be easy, any playoff team in the Eastern Conference could steal one game in the opening round, but it’ll really be the 76ers and the Bucks that the Cavs should want to avoid.
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However, with them sitting fourth and eighth, the Cavs could be on track to not even think of either team till the Eastern Conference Finals in which they’ll gratefully take them on in a seven-game series.