Without Love And Smith Cavs are Done.

[KG Living Legend]

 Mozgov, Lebron, Irving, Shumpert, Thompson I hope those guys can all play 48 minutes because I have never seen A NBA Playoff team more pathetic 5 though 12. Dellavadova,  James Jones, Miller, Joe Harris, Holy crap is this team screwed. Lost there composure against C's, and it's gonna cost them huge.

[Who]

I don't think they will miss K-Love that much. I mean it wasn't like they were using him to the full extent of his abilities. He was basically Ryan Anderson to them.

You can live without Ryan Anderson.

[fairweatherfan]

I don't think they will miss K-Love that much. I mean it wasn't like they were using him to the full extent of his abilities. He was basically Ryan Anderson to them.

You can live without Ryan Anderson.

I think the problem's more with their frontcourt depth.  Perk is basically their #3 big now, and I don't even know who's #4.  They'll have to play lots of small ball with LeBron or Marion or even James Jones at the 4, which will be fine in some circumstances, but reduces their ability to match up with bigger teams.

[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?

[PhoSita]

It definitely ruins any title chances, unless they are lucky enough to get to the Finals and face a Western team that is similarly devastated by a major injury.

But the Cavs could still get to the Finals quite easily if LeBron and Kyrie go on a dominant run.

[Roy H.]

It definitely ruins any title chances, unless they are lucky enough to get to the Finals and face a Western team that is similarly devastated by a major injury.

But the Cavs could still get to the Finals quite easily if LeBron and Kyrie go on a dominant run.

I agree. The only teams I think they'd have almost no chance against are GS and peak-level San Antonio.

[hpantazo]

Smith is only out for 2 games though right? I mean, he's not out for the rest of the playoffs but from the initial post it sounds like he is.

[Rakulp]

They may make it through the next series without Love...maybe.

But after that, you've got two more series against even better teams.  Unless the whistles go their way, I don't see them getting any further.

Rak

[1dude]

Good point. But the league will probably extend the Bucks and Bulls series to game 7 through horrible officiating giving K Love ample time to recover.

[SparzWizard]

Don't forget LeBron made it to the finals with Sasha Pavlovic, Drew Gooden, Eric Snow, Daniel Gibson and Big Z!

[Beat LA]

While I think that starting Shumpert will actually work out better for the Cavs instead of having Smith in the lineup, I do agree that they have no depth.  Perk, Mike Miller, James Jones, and Dellavedova, etc., will have to make substantial contributions.  Oops, holy crap, I completely forgot about Shawn Marion, lol. He said that this will be his last year, so I'd look for him to go out with a bang.  Have I forgotten anyone?

[Beat LA]

Don't forget LeBron made it to the finals with Sasha Pavlovic, Drew Gooden, Eric Snow, Daniel Gibson and Big Z!

Maybe Damon Jones, Ty Lue, and James Posey should

[celticsclay]

It definitely ruins any title chances, unless they are lucky enough to get to the Finals and face a Western team that is similarly devastated by a major injury.

But the Cavs could still get to the Finals quite easily if LeBron and Kyrie go on a dominant run.

I agree. The only teams I think they'd have almost no chance against are GS and peak-level San Antonio.

Wouldn't Dwight howard foul out Mosgov in about 10 minutes leaving Tristan Thompson and Perk to try and stop him? Clippers seem like they would really beat them down lown and paul could at least annoy kyrie (defending lebron would be a huge issue). Heck even memphis would be pretty tough for them.

[celticsclay]

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.

[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.