NBA Eastern Conference Playoff Picture:
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Indiana Pacers
Alex was supposed to do this piece as part of his Eastern Conference preview series.
However, being the production editor of a website comes with certain perks. One of those perks is the ability to declare myself the official LeBron James beat writer, giving me first dibs on ALL things relating to The King. Sure, Alex was halfway done, but maybe if he prioritized theocho.ca over “paid work” or “being a good father to four kids” then I wouldn’t have time to steal his articles.
In the interest of fairness, I did agree to include the following quote from Alex:
“Don’t be surprised if a breakdown by the Cavs leads to a Pacer upset.”
With that foolishness dealt with, let’s look at this series.
Cleveland stumbled down the stretch of the season, losing their last four games to finish in the second seed at 51–31. Indiana comes in to The ‘Land with a 42–40 record at the number seven seed. The Pacers are smoking hot, however, having won their last five games in a row to make the playoffs.
All that said, this is the NBA, where the regular season pales in importance to the names on your roster sheet.
Indiana is no scrub squad. The team has five players who averaged double digits in points on a nightly basis. Headlined by two way standout Paul George (who averaged career highs is points-per-game and field goal percentage) they also have 2015 All-Star and 82-game starter Jeff Teague providing quality production from the point. Thaddeus Young is on a hot streak, scoring in double figures his last eight games in a row to close out the season. The true X-Factor, however, is the return of 2014 All-Star snub and LeBron ear-blower Lance Stephenson. After a couple early-career lost tape years, Lance is back on the team where he once lead the NBA in triple doubles.
This Indiana team is coming into the series hot against a reeling Cavs team that has played .500 basketball in their last 45 games.
It still won’t be enough.
Despite his team’s underwhelming second half to the regular season, LeBron James posted what many feel is his best statistical year ever, going for around 26–9–8 a night. Kyrie Irving averaged 25 per game and avoided significant injury, while double-double machine Kevin Love returned to the lineup before the end of the season.
The Cavs played poor defence over the second half of the season, coming in at 21st in defensive efficiency for the year. With that being said, the Pacers don’t play enough high tempo basketball to take advantage. LeBron and his array of three point marksmen (led by Kyle Korver, who shot over 48 per cent from three after the Cavs acquired him) were second in the league in threes made.
With that kind of offensive output, along with LeBron, Kevin Love and Tristian Thompson cleaning the glass to limit Indy’s second chance points, the Pacers won’t have enough scoring chances to keep…nope. Not gonna do it.
All in all, The King gets at least one easy series before going up against an improved upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.
Prediction: Cavs win NBA Championship
Oh, you mean for the series? Ok.
Prediction: Cavs sweep.
Riley is the Production Editor for theocho.ca, as well as a long-form contributor to many of our sections. You can catch him co-hosting The Ocho podcast every Monday evening alongside Aaron Lieberman. Follow Riley on Twitter at @rnevans93.
