The Cavs and Raptors will be back in action at *checks notes* 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT!) for Game 2 on Thursday night, which is strange for a playoff series, but that is what’s happening.
LeBron James and the Cavs swiped homecourt from the Raptors in a stunning overtime win in Game 1 as they managed to get the victory despite never leading in regulation. After a seven game series, Cleveland being able to scrape out a win in Game 1 off one day’s rest is impressive, but they won’t be seeing any chances to get significant rest for the remainder of the series.
The schedule for Cavs Raptors has them playing Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, should it go seven games, which means they will have one day off between each game, regardless of travel. Every other playoff series features one break of two days off.
For LeBron, he finds that a curious little scheduling quirk and doesn’t seem thrilled about it.
"It's kinda weird we're the only series that does not get two days in between games. That's kinda weird" — LeBron on conserving energy in games and throughout a series
(via @cavs) pic.twitter.com/YRdTZWSWBA
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 3, 2018
James has become a connoisseur of rest as he’s gotten older, but this season he’s not been afforded many chances to do so. He played all 82 games during the regular season and has logged crazy minutes this postseason because he’s had to drag the Cavs to the second round. As he notes in the video above, the off days are his chance to truly rest even though he’s mastered the art of stealing momentary breaks during the game when on the court.
Without a break of two days, James won’t get a serious rest opportunity this series. The only way for James to secure himself some rest will be to dispatch of the Raptors quickly to have a breather before the Eastern Conference Finals, so look for him to be plenty motivated over the next few games to try and get that.
