LeBron James, Kyrie Irving Won't Rest Until Cavaliers Clinch Top Seed in East

The Cleveland Cavaliers have already locked up a playoff berth, but head coach Tyronn Lue intends to keep his stars on the court until they clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. 

Per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, Lue said prior to Friday's game against the Atlanta Hawks he will not sit LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in any game until the Cavs secure home-court advantage in the postseason:

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If we can take care of business like we're supposed to, I think that we'd like LeBron and Kyrie to get some rest. I think JR [Smith] and [Kyle] Korver and Kevin [Love] and those guys should play a little bit because they've been out for so long and just try to keep JR's rhythm and establish Kevin's rhythm and the same thing with Kyle. So the most important guys right now are Kyrie and LeBron, just trying to get those guys some rest if we can.

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The Cavs drew the ire of the NBA last month when they sat James, Irving and Love for a prime-time Saturday night game on March 18 against the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Two days later, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to all 30 teams, warning them of potentially "significant penalties" if they fail to adhere to the league's policy of giving proper notice to the NBA, the opposing team and media about a player's status. 

There haven't been any issues with the Cavaliers resting players since that night in March. The team endured a difficult stretch last month, going 7-10, but it responded with four straight wins heading into Friday's matchup with the Hawks. 

The defending NBA champions sent a message to the Eastern Conference on Wednesday with a 114-91 victory over the Boston Celtics to take back sole possession of first place for home-court advantage.

The Cavaliers have a magic number of two for the No. 1 seed with three games remaining after their Friday game against the Hawks.