The Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the Boston Celtics on April 5 with a 114-91 beatdown in the TD Garden. It felt like a statement that LeBron James and the Cavs were able, when they really cared, to handle the perceived top competition in the East.
At that point, Cleveland held a one-game lead on Boston and owned the tiebreaker for the top seed in the East with four games to play. For the defending champs, this should’ve been easy, right? Two stunning losses to the Hawks later – one to Atlanta’s bench in Cleveland and the other blowing a 26-point fourth quarter lead in Atlanta – and Cleveland was tied with the Celtics with two games to play, but, again, they owned the tiebreaker.
Those games came against the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors, one team still fighting for the playoffs and another locked into the 3-seed in the East. With their full roster, both of those games were winnable, but the Cavs decided to punt, resting James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love rather than going after the top seed.
This isn’t the first time the Cavs have coasted into the playoffs – the 2015 playoffs come to mind, when the Hawks earned the No. 1 seed over the Cavs, only to be swept in the ECF – but considering this time Cleveland appears to have genuine issues on the defensive end of the floor, will Cleveland’s decision to pass up the opportunity for home court through the conference finals come back to haunt them?
Normally, with a LeBron-led team, I would say it doesn’t matter. Few players know how to flip the proverbial switch in the playoffs better than James, but this year’s Cavs team has had its issues on the road. Cleveland is 31-10 at home and 20-21 on the road this season. Their defense, which has been the primary issue for the Cavs in their post All-Star run (second worst defensive rating in the NBA since the All-Star break), has been significantly worse on the road this season.
Cleveland is allowing 109.8 points per game on the road, compared to 104.6 at home, which translates to a 105.5 DRtg at home and a 110.5 DRtg on the road. Their net rating on the road is -2.4, compared to a robust 8.2 at home. In short, the Cavs go from being one of the league’s best teams when at home in The Q, to a very average team on the road.
Now, road games tended to be when James and others got their rest, and you might think that would skew how bad the Cavs defense has been on the road, but the team’s defensive rating with LeBron on the floor goes from 103.6 at home to 110.9 on the road. His net rating at home was an absurd 12.5, compared to just a 2.6 on the road. That’s cause for concern, should the Cavs reach the Eastern Conference Finals and face the Celtics.
Boston was impressively consistent from home games to road games, but like most teams, benefitted from being at home (albeit much more marginally compared to the Cavs). Boston’s offensive rating went from a 109.5 at home to a 107.6 on the road, while the defensive rating went from 104.9 at home to 106.0 on the road. These aren’t major differences, but when coupled with the Cavs road woes, it signals good things for the Celtics should they find themselves face-to-face with the Cavs in the conference finals.
All of this could be negated by LeBron doing his thing, flipping the switch, and dominating the playoffs as he is wont to do. However, unlike in past years, the defensive issues the Cavs have seem to be legitimate and might not be able to be salvaged even by Playoff LeBron against quality opponents.
