CLE is so much better than anyone else in the East right now, but they only won one more game than TOR during the regular season. At first, I thought "Damn, how did TOR win 56 games?" Then I looked at the rest of the East and the real question became, "Damn, how did CLE only win 57 games?" Other than CLE and TOR, no team in the East won more than 48 games. There just weren't any other dominant teams to push the Cavs. In the West, there were 4 teams that won at least 53 games and the top two teams combined for an unprecedented 140 wins - compared to just 113 combined wins for the top 2 teams in the East. So, top 4 teams in the West = 248 wins; top 4 teams in the East = 209 wins. And then there were the 76ers, who were 3-49 against other Eastern Conference teams. That's a lot of gimme wins for everyone else in the East. So, with all the other top teams in the West, and the 76ers in the East, how exactly did CLE only win 57 regular season games? BNM
I honestly don't think the cavs are as good as they look right now. I think they underachieved during the regular season, but are over achieving now in the playoffs. Their real value is probably somewhere in betwixt. They are shooting unbelievably from the 3 point arch during the playoffs, which isn't sustainable long term. It reminds me of the Mavs championship team in that they are both really good teams (but not the best) that just hit pure fire in the playoffs. Maybe the coaching change really did help, somehow.
They coasted like no other top team has coasted before. They could've ran through the East as the 8th seed; it really wouldn't have mattered. When you know you're head and shoulders better than any other team in your conference and don't need HCA to win, it's easy to see why they look disinterested for the majority of the regular season. Maybe one day the East will be competitive ...
Kyrie only played 53 games, Frye 26.....I think they are better because of health and the trade. LBJ also tends to pick his spots during the reg season. Right now they look healthy and deep.
This was the season everyone was acting like the East had finally closed the gap against the West with the West having a down year, but I'd still take the top 5 West teams over any other team in the East after the Cavs.
Which makes their ho hum regular season record all the more baffling. They are absolutely dominating the teams in the playoffs that they didn't dominate in the regular season. During the regular season, they were a combined 5-5 against DET, ATL and TOR and now they are 9-0 against those same teams in the playoffs with multiple huge blowout victories. It sure looks like they underachieved, some would say coasted, during the regular season. Have they become one of those teams, like the Spurs and Shaq/Kobe Lakers used to be that can simply flip a switch and suddenly become dominant? Of course, the big difference has been their 3-point shooting. They have gone from a slightly above average 3-point shooting team to having an entire roster full of lights out 3-point shooters. LeBron's 3-point shooting hasn't chnaged compared to the regular season, but look at these guys: Kyrie Irving: Regular season 3FG% = .322 Playoff 3FG% = .527 J.R. Smith: Regular season 3FG% = .400 Playoff 3FG% = .484 Kevin Love: Regular season 3FG% = .360 Playoff 3FG% = .448 Iman Shumpert: Regular season 3FG% = .295 Playoff 3FG% = .500 Richard Jefferson: Regular season 3FG% = .382 Playoff 3FG% = .471 Channing Frye: Regular season 3FG% = .377 Playoff 3FG% = .583 They have gone from a team that averaged 10.7 made 3-pointers per game on .363 3-FG% in the regular season to a team that is averaging 15.7 made 3-pointers per game on .455 3-FG%. Can they possibly remain this hot collectively for the rest of this series and then the finals? If they can, they may just beat the Warriors at their own game. But, I don't think they will. They will come back down to earth at some point. Even though they blew the Raptors out by 31 points in Game 1 of the ECF, it was not because of their 3-point shooting. At 7-20, it was, by a wide margin, their worst 3-point shooting game of the post season. The 7 made 3-pointers is the only time they've made less than 12 3-pointers in a game in the playoffs, and a big decrease over the 19.3 made 3-pointers per game they averaged against ATL. Plus, GSW is a MUCH better defensive team, especially on the perimeter, than any of the teams they've faced in the East. BNM
Yep, the East got off to a fast start against the West this season, which resulted in a flurry of articles in December and early January about how the East had caught and passed the West, but by the end of the year, the Eastern Conference had a losing record against the Western Conference for the 16th time in the last 17 years. BNM
I'm not sure that Cleveland coasted--in the first half of the season, there were various articles about how frustrated LeBron James was over how the Warriors were playing relative to the Cavaliers. He apparently exhorted his team to raise their level and said that the Warriors have the hunger of a team that lost the Finals, not the Cavs. The picture painted was of a James who despaired of being able to catch the Warriors and match their level, which doesn't sound like a star allowing his team to slack in the regular season. I think the Cavaliers are essentially the team they were through the regular season. An insanely hot shooting stretch will make any team look like they've activated super saiyan mode but, as Boob-No-More said, they're not likely to sustain that going forward and a team like the Warriors will chase them off their preferred shots on the perimeter, making it even harder for them to shoot the lights out.
Many good points in that post, but they aren't exactly the same team they were early in the year. They added Channing Frye at the deadline in place of Anderson Varejao - a career .024 3-point shooter (no, that's not a typo, it's 2.4%, as in 1 for 42). Frye gives them one weapon they lacked - a big man who can space the floor, and he's been killing it in the playoffs. But again, he hasn't faced a defense like GSW that will definitely make him work MUCH harder for those shots. BNM
@Tunchi You want Lowry cause you think he's better? More effecient than Lillard? Please respond to this message after you see the stats. Lillard has never shot less than 41.9% during a season. Lowry's career percentage is 41.9% Lowry has had 3 seasons of shooting less than 41% (Not including his rookie year where he played 10 games). Lillard has had only one season where he shot less than 42%. Lillard: 37% 3 point shooting. Lowry: 35.6% Last season, Lowry shot .8% better than Lillard (42.7% and 41.9%). in 2015-2016 - Lowry had 47 games of 40% or better, Lillard had 45. Lowry had 35 games of 45% or more. Lillard had 30. Lowry and Lillard each had 29 games of shooting less than 40%. Lowry has had 12 games of shooting between 20-30%. Lillard had 6. Lowry had 8 games shooting between 30-35%. Lillard had 7. You can never, ever say again that one is feast or famine and the other is not and that one would be better on this team. EVERY day Lillard is better for this team, WITH his flaws. Lowry is JUST as feast or famine as Lillard. And I didn't even get into individual numbers (FGA/FGM). So now that you have been proven wrong by multiple people multiple times. If you do not respond with a "whoops, I was wrong" then you are a certified troll. Have a great day! http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lowryky01/gamelog/2016/ <--- Kyle Lowry http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lillada01/gamelog/2016/ <---- Damian Lillard
Re: the Cavs--the new story is now that Tyronn Lue has taken control of the Cavs, and that he's the reason they're playing better. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...n-james-shut-the-bleep-up-and-cavs-responded/
Scoff all you want, but there appears to be a bit more "there" there than people initially expected. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/i...yronn-lue-has-created-a-monster-in-cleveland/
