Without Love And Smith Cavs are Done.

[SHAQATTACK]

Love was nice player luxury to have sitting on the bench .    He is a third wheel.  Period .

He could have been more , but James runs the team......it's his team......he is in control.

Love was really not needed once they got Moz , Smith and Shump.

Love became a bench ornament .


James and Irving are more than capable to taking Cavs to finals without Love .   They were mostly doing it with a TWO super stars anyways.  Love seemed to be mostly a garbage time player .  He came in and piled on points .

The opponent Cavs need Love .....is Spurs

I don't think James athleticism thug ball can beat Pop and his well coach true basketball team.

[celticsclay]

PG: Kyrie Irving, Matt Delladova
SG: JR Smith, Joe Harris
SF: Iman Shumpert, James Jones, Mike Miller
PF: LeBron James, (Thompson), Shawn Marion
 C: Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, Kendrick Perkins

Their defense will improve considerably without Kevin Love around. That is a strong defensive starting unit with bench defensive bigs.

LeBron will be incredibly difficult to matchup against at that PF position especially with someone like Kyrie as secondary attacker and in a 4-out 1-in system.

Nobody on the Bench should be in a playoff rotation except for Thompson. When you have Smith suspended for two, there isn't a single bench player you can feel good about bringing in off the bench. God help them if anyone else gets banged up.

[Who]

PG: Kyrie Irving, Matt Delladova
SG: JR Smith, Joe Harris
SF: Iman Shumpert, James Jones, Mike Miller
PF: LeBron James, (Thompson), Shawn Marion
 C: Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, Kendrick Perkins

Their defense will improve considerably without Kevin Love around. That is a strong defensive starting unit with bench defensive bigs.

LeBron will be incredibly difficult to matchup against at that PF position especially with someone like Kyrie as secondary attacker and in a 4-out 1-in system.

Nobody on the Bench should be in a playoff rotation except for Thompson. When you have Smith suspended for two, there isn't a single bench player you can feel good about bringing in off the bench. God help them if anyone else gets banged up.

I think Perk, Marion, J.Jones and M.Miller are fine. Below average but capable bench players.

[P stoff]

Love's value vs the Celtics was his spacing... which ight be compromised by having non -three point threats like Thompson and Mosgov playing more. However, Thibs' "offense" looks absolutely brutal in th Bucks series. I dont really know what he tries to accomplish on offense, but it has really no focus from game to game.  WITH lOve and smith I wouldnt have them winning more than one game. Their defense isnt as scary as it used to be... and the Cavs are more apt to outscore them.

[Donoghus]

Ummm...they still have the best player on the player in Lebron and once of the best second bananas in the league in Kyrie,  I'd say they're hardly cooked.

Your bench shortens up come playoff time so I wouldn't too concerned with the end of the bench guys.  Who cares about players 10-12?

Isn't it more about 6-11? (Which is very important heck look at the spurs last year). For these first two games down Smith and Love.

Their starting 5 is Irving, Shumpert, Lebron, Thompson and Mosgov

Their bench will be Delladova, James Jones... Perk... Marion.. Miller?

That bench unit cant be on the court in a playoff game.

Having the 2 best players in a playoff matchup alleviates a lot of the problem. Also helps with you play in a rather weak conference where all the other remaining contenders have warts of their own.

The problem might be exposed in a series with Chicago or they could make it all the way to the Finals before it becomes a real issue.

To say the "Cavs are done" like the OP said, is a foolish thing to say if you ask me.

[jambr380]

I'm not sure their front court defense takes much of a hit with Thompson stepping in and Perk getting some minutes - this will help greatly versus Chicago's front court trio; however, their offense could fall off a cliff without Love' spacing and premier scoring ability. Noah, Gasol, and Gibson can focus their efforts on the lane which should make Cleveland become even more of a three-point shooting team.

If Chicago had any semblance of organization, they should take this series in less than seven. It's really too bad they couldn't get similar rest to Cleveland.

On another note, it's funny how much better the Celtics' bench is than the Cavs.

[wiley]

PG: Kyrie Irving, Matt Delladova
SG: JR Smith, Joe Harris
SF: Iman Shumpert, James Jones, Mike Miller
PF: LeBron James, (Thompson), Shawn Marion
 C: Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, Kendrick Perkins

Their defense will improve considerably without Kevin Love around. That is a strong defensive starting unit with bench defensive bigs.

LeBron will be incredibly difficult to matchup against at that PF position especially with someone like Kyrie as secondary attacker and in a 4-out 1-in system.

I agree Who.  More shots for Kyrie and Lebron.  Better defense.  Tristian Thompson at big minutes.  Thompson is no slouch at all.  Bigger minutes for Mozgov if they want.  I'm sure Marion can still offer something too.  I think Cleveland will be different but equally tough to beat. 

[Fred Roberts]

Shump is huge for them. I think Love could get back for a bit of the finals of he's got the high tech shoulder strap going.

Marion is going to bring it. Tristan too. I feel bad for love but what can you do.

[Moranis]

The Bucks and Nets have each taken 2 games against Chicago and Atlanta respectively and people don't think Cleveland can beat those teams.  Weird.

[MMacOH]

They won't be starting Thompson, most likely James Jones.  Thompson will come off the bench. 

[Snakehead]

The Bucks and Nets have each taken 2 games against Chicago and Atlanta respectively and people don't think Cleveland can beat those teams.  Weird.

Agreed.

LeBron the forgotten man this season, which feels funny to say.  This is a guy who made it deep into the Playoffs without a player that's half of Kyrie on his team.

[celticsclay]

Why do people think Marion is going to somehow do something. Some facts to consider

1) He is retiring at the end of the season, and it is not a David Robinson style retirement where he is going out on top while he can still play.
2) He has appeared in 7 games since March, with the only time he received significant minutes being games at end of the season when Lebron, Kyrie and others were healthy scratches and the bench was playing. (This includes the two games the Celtics beat them)
3) He turns 37 in a week and has had a significant portion of his game predicated on athleticism.
4) He has playing behind James Jones who is 34 and can't play any defense at all.
5) The Cavs coaching staff that has watched him practice all year made the decision to not include him in the rotation. Have they made a mistake?
 

[blink]

No way the Cavs are done in the east when they have Lebron and Kyrie.  I agree that the Cavs should probably move Lebron back to the 4 and adjust the lineup from there.  Love hit some big shots against the C's, but so did Smith, Lebron and Kyrie.

I still consider them the fav to make the nba finals from the east.  The bulls are having serious trouble scoring points, and Atlanta is currently tied 2-2 with the Nets.  I don't see how either team beats the cavs in a 7 game series.

[danglertx]

I don't buy it.  They do have the two best players in the series.  I hope you are right though.  I hope they get swept.  It is what they deserve after those two cheap shots and the league's coddling of Lebron.