Cassity14
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I'm not as big a believer in the Rockets as others around here, but the fact is that the Cavs beating them in a 7-game series would be as historically improbable as us coming back from 3-1 against the 73-win Warriors in '16, perhaps even more so.
No team with a defense as poorly-ranked as the Cavs (28th) has even made the Finals, we sport a -0.07 SRS vs. their +8.81, and will struggle to win 50 games while they're on pace for a scorching 65+.
If the Cavs play and beat the Rockets in the Finals then you can replace all references and allusions to Jesus with LeBron.
I get the stastical relevance regarding the defense. However, the defense has improved since the trades, and we don’t have a large enough sample size defensively with the core rotation to write them off as terrible, particularly when playoff intensity kicks in.
I need to see playoff numbers that show me a lineup of Hill/Hood/Bron/Love/Nance is actually bad defensively. I don’t think it’s too bad to win at all unless 2-3 guys continue to under perform offensively for the entire postseason.
Nothing is as improbable as 2016 lol.
In the playoffs, the game slows down (less than it used to, but still some) and whistles go much more quiet. Both of those things are massive boosts to the Cavs’ odds in a series against Houston.
Factor in a tough series against Golden State, Chris Paul’s trend of fighting off injuries in the playoffs, Harden’s trend of wearing down the deeper things go, and LeBron’s lock to play his best ball come June, and I really think that series is right around a coin flip.
I think Nance and Love would require Capela to work extremely hard on the glass and both get him out of his comfort zone defensively. Nance has also shown a strong ability to guard the pick and roll, which makes him an ideal starting center against Houston.
I’d be grinning if the Cavs get to play Houston.
With all of that said, Golden State beats them in 5 or 6 if healthy so this is all moot.