Cleveland Cavaliers’ Health Shaping Up As NBA Playoffs Draw Near
Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr., and Rodney Hood all have returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers lineup this week. For the Cavaliers, their return — Love last Monday, Thompson, Nance, and Hood all returned on Friday (courtesy of NBA.com) — comes at just the right time. All of the new-look Cavaliers hands are on deck for the first time and much-needed chemistry must be built.
A few weeks from now, the Cleveland Cavaliers will enter the NBA playoffs with a mission to get to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers need a healthy roster to advance.
The Monday return (courtesy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) of Cavaliers all-star Kevin Love marked the first time he would play with his new teammates.
Kevin Love’s game, which included 18 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks complimented the triple-double of LeBron James. The Cleveland Cavaliers went on to outlast the Milwaukee Bucks 124-117.
A full complement of players is the only way that the Cleveland Cavaliers will advance to the NBA Finals. On Friday, the Cavaliers had as close to a full roster as they have had the entire NBA season.
Tristan Thompson is perhaps the most significant player to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. The Cavaliers, primarily the younger, most recent Cavs’ players, must rely on Thompson’s playoff experience. Tristan Thompson has an abundance of it.
The Cleveland Cavaliers turned over half of their roster at the NBA trade deadline. There are certain subtle and not so subtle differences between now and then.
Only LeBron James, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and Tristan Thompson remain from the Cavaliers’ team which won the NBA championship in 2016. Of the four new players whom the Cavaliers added on February 8, only George Hill comes with playoff experience.
The moves that the Cleveland Cavaliers have made transformed them from a laboring NBA team to one that plays with pace and a purpose. However, neither player has exhibited the ability to be a consistent second scorer opposite LeBron James. Also, the inexperience of Larry Nance Jr., Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson has been on display at times.
What will benefit the Cleveland Cavaliers the most is that the returns of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson lessen the burden of LeBron James.
LeBron James no longer has to be alone in being the Cavaliers’ leading scorer and rebounder, while helping his new and younger teammates learn on the fly in games. Kevin Love provides an on-court experience for them to lean on, as does Tristan Thompson. This should make the Cavaliers a better team, and just in time.
The Toronto Raptors might just be the biggest threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers and their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference. The Raptors will have homecourt advantage. The Cavaliers have on-court chemistry issues they must work out in order to unseat the Raptors. The NBA playoffs are a few weeks away. Getting healthy for a playoff run is the utmost of importance for Cleveland.
