On a night when LeBron James was snubbed with regard to the 2016-2017 NBA MVP race, the Cleveland Cavaliers left absolutely nothing to chance. In fact, Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals match-up against the Boston Celtics was over well before halftime, to the point where the great majority of the basketball world was simply cackling during the stretch run of the second quarter.
In short, it was a thoroughly dominant first-half performance that doubled as the largest spread in postseason history and the showing even made history for a player with the lengthy resumé of excellence that LeBron James possesses.
LeBron's first half plus-minus: +40. It's his best plus-minus in a half (either 1st or 2nd) in his career, regular season or postseason game
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 20, 2017
Are the Cavaliers actually forty points better than the Celtics over a 24-minute period? Probably not. With that said, the first half of Game 2 did serve as a reminder that the disparity between Cleveland and everyone else in the league remains quite stark, even as James nears the completion of his 14th NBA season.
There was certainly a camp (and a hefty one) that expected the Cavaliers to reach the NBA Finals for a likely rubber match against the Golden State Warriors (and that is fair to point out). However, the general sentiment was that Cleveland could, at the very least, be pushed by the likes of the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, and/or Washington Wizards – and there were cracks in the armor for the Cavs during the regular season.
Cleveland went into the playoffs with an unsightly 108.0 defensive rating that ranked in a tie with the lowly Brooklyn Nets for 22nd in the NBA. With that number as a reality, the Cavs finished with just a +2.9 net rating (8th in the NBA) and there were wide stretches of time in which the team seemed lifeless on the defensive end to the point of legitimate worry.
While LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and company did not exactly “struggle” in sweeping through the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the defensive issues still appeared real. In fact, Cleveland’s defense actually regressed from the regular season, as they allowed a ghastly 111 points per 100 possessions in knocking down the underdogs with an offense-focused explosion.
On cue, though, the Cavs suddenly “remembered” how to defend against the Raptors, clamping down to the tune of a 100.9 defensive rating against an admittedly limited offensive team. That did not come as a full-fledged shock given the way the team has raised its collective defensive intensity in the postseason recently but that was simply a glimpse of what was to come.
Game 1 against the Celtics finished with “just” a 13-point margin of victory for Cleveland, but the Cavs led by 28 points and the result of the contest was never in doubt after the opening minutes. Despite deploying a virtually unstoppable offensive roster with James surrounded by quality shooting, Cleveland was able to defend Boston’s spread offense quite effectively and the lack of dynamic playmakers (outside of the physically limited Isaiah Thomas) for the Celtics played directly into the hands of the favorites.
That was, of course, on full display in the early (and non-competitive) portion of Game 2 and the performance certainly should put to bed any notion that the Cavaliers still have real defensive issues. To be fair, Cleveland does deploy several players that are less than stellar defenders. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Kyle Korver, and Channing Frye would all fall into this category to varying degrees and, aside from James, there isn’t a singularly dominant defensive force on the roster.
Still, the level of effort, communication and execution has risen noticeably from the regular season and, with the possible exception of Frye, no player is poor enough defensively to the point where they can’t be hidden.
The elephant in the room is that, well, the Cavaliers did not try particularly hard during the regular season and there isn’t really an argument against that point. While LeBron was incredible, his defensive effort wasn’t at an “A-plus” throughout the campaign and this is a team that clearly takes their cue from their leader.
Throw in the aforementioned lack of high-end defensive talent combined with the fact that the Cavaliers enjoyed themselves thoroughly after winning the 2016 title and it is fairly easy to see why this team didn’t put forth maximum effort over 82 games.
Now, though, the NBA world is being treated to what the Cleveland Cavaliers can do on a basketball court and their current performance provides optimism that the 2017 NBA Finals might not be a coronation for the Golden State Warriors. It is more than fair to suggest that Stephen Curry, Kevin Duran,t and company (especially with homecourt advantage) should be seen as the favorites to win the title and they have earned that distinction over a very large sample this season.
The best team in the Eastern Conference, though, won’t shrink away from the moment and the ceiling of the 2016-2017 Cleveland Cavaliers looks to be quite high in its own right.
