The Cleveland Cavaliers have basked in the top spot of the Eastern Conference for most of the season. But with the recent announcement that All-Star forward Kevin Love is scheduled to miss at least six weeks following an arthroscopic knee surgery, it begs the question if the Cavs and LeBron James should step up to fill the void left by the versatile forward or take it east the rest of the way?
As noted by Fox Sports, the Cleveland Cavaliers presently sit at 39 wins, while the Detroit Pistons, currently at eighth, are projected to accumulate 38 wins by season’s end. And with the widespread belief that the only thing standing between LeBron James and his second back-to-back title is the Golden State Warriors, the thinking that the Cavaliers should consider going on cruise control has recently been brought up.
As pointed out by Grantland, LeBron James is currently second in the league in minutes per game at 37.6. Before he left Miami for the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was thought that he did so with the thinking that he could add more years to his career by playing with younger players and doing less. The opposite has happened thus far, with him shouldering practically all of the load during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first Finals meeting with the Warriors in 2014-15, and basically remaining the fulcrum of everything the Cavs have done since then.
While a couple of teams – the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards – have taken great strides this season, both teams still don’t appear primed to challenge LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout a seven-game series. Instead of having everyone step up in the absence of Kevin Love, the Cavs could instead work on incorporating recent acquisitions Kyle Korver and Derrick Williams, which would add some much needed depth in what could be their third straight run to the NBA Finals.
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