The Underlying Difference Between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers
So far through 9 combined games of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, Game 4 between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors has been the only close game. Everything else has been blowout, typically by the home teams and the opponent slogging through simple basketball actions.
However, even though the East Finals have been ugly and not very entertaining basketball-wise, there has been no shortage of storylines. LeBron James’ presence on a team and his influence on a series has a tendency to do that. It comes with being the best and most influential (not necessarily most valuable) player in the NBA in a long time. LeBron’s basketball impact is undeniably positive, but what he brings is also what has brought the Cleveland Cavaliers within one game of elimination for the second time this postseason.
LeBron spent 7 years in Cleveland, in his first stint there, before bolting to Miami for the chance to win championships. He then spent 4 years in Miami, winning two back-to-back titles in 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 and then headed back to Cleveland. Upon arrival, LeBron’s presence influenced the acquisition of Kevin Love and accelerated the Cavaliers’ timeline. Now, 4 years and one championship, plus the remainder of these playoffs, LeBron’s contract is up and rumors are swirling.
This season has been the Cavs’ worst since LeBron returned. There have been numerous stories about the general malaise that is lying over the Cavs and they traded half of their roster at the trade deadline in an attempt to re-energize the lineup. The trades were a desperate ploy, and they worked to an extent. LeBron locked re-engaged and played with a fierceness we hadn’t seen pre-All Star break.
In the playoffs though, the story has been different. None of those trade deadline acquisitions have made much of an impact and the Cavs are back to relying on their older players. JR Smith and Tristan Thompson have been through almost every battle with LeBron. From the Warriors-Cavs I, the 3–1 comeback, and obliteration at the hands of Kevin Durant, those two have been by LeBron’s side.
LeBron creates an expectation for a team. NBA Finals or bust. He’s been to seven straight Finals and won three championships.
Talk about pressure. LeBron, and the Cavs, feel a pressure to win. For LeBron, because it is what his own personal goals and expectations are; for the Cavs, because LeBron’s presence overshadows everything else.
That type of pressure and expectation can be good for a team. It can inspire hard play and push the team to higher levels. Or it can break them. They reach a point in a game where the opponent has an “insurmountable” lead and just give up.
The latter is what I think is happening, and has happened, to the Cavaliers. The Cavs feel like they are already the Eastern Conference Champions, like they deserve that spot in the Finals. The media is all over them, talking about how their acquisitions re-energized them, how the Cavs are now the favorites to come out of the East.
The players are human; they hear that kind of talk and it’s really hard to keep that from going to your head. I think that seems to be a malaise that enters the Cavs when the Celtics, or anyone else really, gets a double-digit lead. Losing big is not fun at all, especially when you’ve been hyped up to be the best.
The Cavs are under enormous pressure, from LeBron, from LeBron’s impending free agency, and the team’s recent success, to succeed. When things are going their way, it’s almost like they shut down and give up, upset that they aren’t being handed what they believe deserve. I think that a guy like Kyrie Irving would make a huge difference. Besides being a huge upgrade over anyone else on the roster, he’s still a young guy who wants to win. Sometimes people, players, or even LeBron, need one more guy to give them a kick in the butt to get them going. Kyrie’s basketball presence would have fixed a lot of problems, but I think his drive would too.
And therein lies the difference between Kyrie’s old and current teams. The Celtics are chalk-full of new, young guys. Only four players returned from last year’s Conference Finals appearance and everyone there wants to win. Part of that comes from LeBron being that shoe-in to the NBA Finals, year after year.
This is the first, actually second (Indiana in Round 1 this year), that we’ve seen LeBron pushed to the brink by an Eastern Conference foe. The Celtics are eager to be the ones to knock LeBron down. And their young guns are leading the way.
It’s hard to describe what seems to be going on. It’s not that the Celtics don’t know any better, of course they do, but that they just don’t care what the status quo of the last 7 years has been, at least when they play in Boston. And the Celtics have no outward expectations from the media.
Once Gordon Hayward went down on opening night, the Celtics were dismissed nationally. Then they got hot, led by Kyrie and got hot and we started to wonder how far the Celtics could go. Until another injury struck, this time to Kyrie who is out for the entire remainder of the NBA season with a knee injury. Then the questions came back. Could a team led by Al Horford even win a single playoff series? Would Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, a rookie (gasp), be able to score enough points to win playoff games and series? Would Terry Rozier be even a net positive as a replacement point guard?
The answer to every single one of those questions has been a resounding yes.
Al Horford is averaging 16.2/8.5/3.3in the playoffs and is leading fast-break opportunities from the Center position. Jaylen Brown has played strong defense against LeBron James plus scoring 17.8 points per game. Tatum is scoring 18.4 points per game in the playoffs, leading the Celtics (as a rookie!). And Terry Rozier is third on the team in playoff scoring with 16.5 points per game.
The young Celtics have talent and, at home at least, they’ve turned that talent loose which has led to a 10–0 record at the Garden in Boston. The crowd serves as an energizer, especially for the younger players; a theme that continued in Game 5.
Jayson Tatum was tearing apart the Cavs. Throughout the series he’s been able to get past his matchup at will, but has been deferential to the older Celtics on occasion. He wasn’t in Game 5.
Tatum asserted himself offensively early in the first quarter, scoring 9 of the Celtics’ 32 points. His first points of the game came off of a vintage one-legged Dirk fadeaway jumper in the post. He stepped into multiple 3-pointers over the first two quarters, making two, but showing extreme confidence in his abilities. Defensively, Tatum produced two steals, one off of LeBron James in the post, that both led to easy offense, a dunk by Aron Baynes and a made three by Marcus Morris.
The Celtics are fun to watch because they have a bunch of young players who are just playing basketball; just like have been for the last 15+ years. The Cavaliers aren’t fun to watch because all of their players, except for LeBron, Kyle Korver and occasionally Kevin Love look like their playing under the shadow of impending doom. Either way, the Celtics are in control of this series for a variety of basketball, and non-basketball reasons.
