The Cleveland Cavaliers finished off a sweep of the Boston Celtics in the first-round of the NBA playoffs. They will face the Chicago Bulls or the Milwaukee Bucks in the second-round. Cleveland will be without Kevin Love for the series and J.R. Smith could be suspended for the start of the series.
Love will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs due to a dislocated shoulder. It happened in the first quarter of Sundays’ 113-100 win. This hurts Cleveland on the offensive and defensive end. Kevin Love has played well in these playoffs for the Cavaliers. He is averaging 14.3 points and 12 rebounds per game. He is a great rebounder who boxes people out. The Cavaliers can’t allow the Bulls or the Bucks to out rebound them on the defensive end. That could give them extra possessions which could lead to more points on the board.
It’s expected that Cleveland will be without J.R. Smith. Smith struck Boston’s Jae Crowder in the face in game 4, earning him a Flagrant Foul 2. Smith claimed there wasn’t any spiteful intent to hurt Crowder. The league will review the incident and determine if he should be suspended. He could be because he has been suspended by the league in the past. It could be one game or two to three games. The Cleveland Cavaliers might be in trouble with out J.R. Smith. He is a guy who can score as he is averaging 9.8 points per game in this postseason and gives them energy off the bench.
LeBron James knows this isn’t good for his team but his team must be ready to play. According to ESPN James said, “You just control what you can control. “That’s all we can do. We have this small period of time to get better. It’s next man up. What goes on with our team, those are two big pieces, obviously, next man up. No excuses. You just get ready to go out and play.”
Lebron James will need to play well in order for the Cavaliers to advance to the next round. Another player who will have to step up his game on the offensive end is Kyrie Irving. The Cavaliers will need Kyrie Irving to be a reliable scorer in the second-round.
The series won’t start until next week. By then the Cavaliers should know how long J.R. Smith will be suspended. Hopefully, losing Kevin Love for the rest of the playoffs and J.R. Smith for the start of the second-round won’t cost the Cavaliers the series.
How much will the Cavaliers miss Kevin Love and J.R. Smith?
I think that losing two key players will hurt Cleveland’s chances. Those are the breaks