5. Will the Cavs Just Wake Up Already?
Anyone who has watched this team this season is well-aware of how frustrating it can be to watch one of the most talented rosters in NBA history fail to meet standards so regularly.
The sweep was important and the team did what it needed to do in the first round, but even in those four games, Cleveland never put four good quarters together in a game.
Whether it was blowing big leads in the second half or waiting until halftime to start playing with intensity, it was more of the same ugly habits we saw in January and March.
Maybe the Cavs need to feel legitimately threatened before they kick it into another gear.
LeBron turned it up a notch in the first round when he had to, but we still haven’t seen the killer instinct Cleveland showed early in last year’s Playoffs.
From watching this team and the way it handles business against Eastern Conference teams, it appears as if they wait until someone doubts them to show what they’re truly capable of.
When questions arose about Boston being the “better team” in April, the Cavs obliterated them on their home floor.
Once the criticism and question marks started to fade out, the Cavs appeared to get lazy and let their first place lead evaporate.
The seeding isn’t the bigger problem out of that, but the tendency to let off the gas pedal for significant chunks of time is concerning.
My personal feeling is we’re not going to see the Cavs really take their game up to another level until they lose their first Playoff game.
Whether it’s Game 3 in Toronto or Game 1 in Boston, the Cavs needs that type of game to remind them whenever anyone (great team or not) plays with fire, they get burned.
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