Celtics’ Jae Crowder On The Cavaliers: ‘Nobody On Their Team Is Intimidating’

The Cleveland Cavaliers might be the best team in the NBA. They’re 34-10 since LeBron James returned to his re-built team on January 13 following a two-week absence, a record second only to the Golden State Warriors’ league-leading mark. They boast basketball’s top offensive rating over that timeframe, and improved their defense from porous to average in the interim, too.

Cleveland has a pair of young stars making playoff debuts. Multiple sharpshooters capable of getting hot from deep. An energetic reserve big man who deserved more consideration for Sixth Man of the Year. A seven-foot Russian who changed the team’s entire defensive complexion for the better.

And oh, the world’s best player is wearing wine-and-gold, too.

Might the seventh-seeded Boston Celtics be intimidated by their first round foes, then? According to Jae Crowder, it’s not just Timofey Mozgov who doesn’t instill fear in his team’s heart – no one who plays for the Cavaliers does.

Damn.

Before overreacting, though, it bears mentioning that Crowder isn’t exactly the type who would ever admit to weakness – he’s been a brash scrapper ever since his days at Marquette, and forged a similar role in the NBA that will keep him around for years to come. It’s not like Cleveland blew the doors off Boston in the first two games of this series, either. The Celtics should be feeling somewhat confident heading into tonight’s Game 3.

But to brush aside the Cavaliers with a laugh still seems a bit disingenuous. The Celtics have only made 5 of their 15 shot attempts against Mozgov at the rim, after all. He’s not exactly DeAndre Jordan in terms of authoritative blocks, but still a very good rim-protector. That’s intimidation, partially.

And we’re supposed to believe that getting backed down in the post by James isn’t intimidating as well? Hearing his trailing footsteps on a fast break? Stepping in front of him to take a charge?

Hard to believe – until you look at the stats, that is. James has shot just 3-of-10 when Crowder is his closest defender over the first two games, and it’s not exactly hard to see why. He’s the only player on Boston’s roster with the requisite combination of strength, quickness, and length to consistently bother LeBron, especially as The King makes his annual spring sojourn back to the post.

Crowder really has been effective against James on defense in this series. Perhaps his words ring true? Maybe for him individually. For the league at large, though, we’re comfortable saying James definitely intimidates the opposition. And combined with Mozgov’s paint protection and the always looming threat of a team-wide shot-making spree, the Cavaliers are plenty intimidating overall, too.

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