By Mark Bacon
The past two years’ narrative for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been drama of the highest sort. A team doesn’t simply fire its coach midseason with the best record in the East if everything's seriously dope. All those anonymous sources related to then Coach Dave Blatt’s dismissal generated feelings of distrust, but the stories did not come from thin air.
The Cavaliers had problems. Their biggest star, LeBron James, was fed up just about every night with his teammates' effort and professionalism. LBJ and Kevin Love had the chemistry of two junior high jazz musicians thrust into a set at the Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tristan Thompson was just a role player. He had a good season, but trust him to be there when it mattered? The whole team would have nights where it looked dominant, and nights where it looked inept.
The Cavaliers rarely, if ever, reached, yet alone exceeded, expectations.
In the playoffs this season, however, they have shattered those expectations and reached a new level. A scary level. Leading the charge is that superstar three-man combo that for so long looked destined for dismantling, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Three months ago that Love was reportedly being shopped at the trade deadline. Kyrie Irving was suffering from a "disconnect" with James, and James was sub-tweeting the entire team day after day. Now, they're a three-headed monster that has ripped up everything.
The Cavs' Big 3 are responsible for over 50 percent of the points for the Cavaliers and nearly as many assists. They are the offense. And playing better together than at any point in their partnership.
They are flat-out destroying teams, with a 59.7 shooting percentage (factoring 3-pointers and free throws) while winning 10 straight playoff games. They're halfway to a sweep in the conference finals, with no sign of slowing down.
Chemistry is the biggest difference. The Cavs, as a whole, are firing on all cylinders and playing together as a unit. But key elements of the Big 3 are clicking, most especially Irving and Love, who never seemed to mesh. In 10 playoff games, Irving has assisted Love on 14 of his buckets. That's 25 percent of his total assists on Love's made field goals in the regular season.
Irving is trusting Love more, and it has made Love a much more confident player than ever before in Cleveland.
That step-back confidence of chocolate milk spokesman KLove is exploiting the opponent’s defense being out of position trying to blitz Irving. Look at how quick Irving is in these situations. It's Irving trusting Love and getting him the ball right where Love wants it.
LeBron is simply an all-star battering ram capable of moving, jumping, shooting and dominating at will in these playoffs.
There's trust all around. All of this was absent last year and at times, this season.
The team has rallied around, benefitted and grown from the influence of, coach Tyronn Lue. But that chemistry would still not result in domination if it weren't for a dominant LeBron James.
But to beat the Warriors (or Thunder) and win the title, Cleveland is going to need this fully armed and operational Death Star, powered by this three-man star combo that was the guiding blueprint of Cleveland's championship plan. They are making good on the promise they showed on paper two summers ago.
The Finals, of course, will be the real test. The Cavs have so completely destroyed an Eastern Conference playoffs, many are wondering if it's more to do with how weak the East is. Consider two things, however. One, the fact that Cleveland has played lights out. Go back and watch these games and tell me the Spurs would have hung with the perimeter onslaught the Cavs have shown vs. the Hawks, or how a healthy Clippers team would have done with the Cavs' ability to attack the rim they've unleashed vs. Toronto. Two, the East was truly better this year than most believe. Atlanta was just a bad schematic matchup for the Cavs' perimeter assault, and Toronto, regrettably, has not played its best basketball. The No. 2 seed in the West, the Spurs, is home right now.
There are still questions. But after two years that bred doubt over whether or not this Big 3, this trinity of basketball star power could really challenge as a title contender, the Cavaliers have their answer. The best of the Cavs' 3 Musketeers is as good as any force in the East, and could be the key to them shocking the NBA world in the Finals.
When my man Jerry, producer of Main Events Sports Radio simply states “The Cavs…,” I know think he knows something more than most of us rabid NBA fans. J may know The Truth about the upcoming NBA Finals. The Cavs.
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