The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have a mental edge over the Golden State Warriors. A lot of this likely stems from the Cavs coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win an NBA title on the Dubs’ home floor, but even beyond that, Cleveland just seems like it’s in the collective heads of the best team out west.
There are plenty of examples of this off the court – Cleveland trolled Golden State in a few unique ways, including their championship rings and their Halloween party. On Monday, however, the Cavaliers apparently thought about bringing this mental edge onto the court. According to ESPN, the team considered resting LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love during its Martin Luther King Jr. Day showdown with the Warriors.
Will Cleveland give Golden State an opportunity to clear its mental hurdle on Monday? It would be the ultimate mind game if the Cavs were to rest James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
“The only thing we can do is play,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said when asked about such a move. “Whoever is out there is out there.”
League sources told ESPN that some within the Cavaliers’ organization briefly pondered sitting out the trio, but the desire to improve and gain valuable repetition against one of the NBA’s elite teams trumped that logic.
It would be something else to watch Cleveland take on an angry, fully-stocked Golden State team without its three-headed monster. Imagine if this were to happen and the Cavs won. Actually, imagine if this were to happen and the Cavs just kept it close in Oakland. It would send messages that the Cavaliers don’t think they need to play their stars in a game like this – which James has already said is not a rivalry game (probably in an attempt to get an even bigger mental edge) – and that when Cleveland is at full strength, there’s nothing the Warriors can do.
There are already enough hard feelings between these two teams, but Cleveland benching their stars would be the ultimate way to disrespect the team they could very possibly end up playing in the 2017 Finals. Anything to gain a mental edge in this rivalry, I guess.
(Via ESPN)
