2010 NBA Playoffs: Are The Cleveland Cavaliers...Bored?

I thought of starting this article off by announcing that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win the NBA Finals this year.

Yes, it would have been outrageous, but not any worse than some of the articles I’ve read that are written from too much of a fan’s perspective.

For instance, I read an article written by a Lakers fan that said if Americans liked Kobe instead of LeBron that we would be on our way to being a better society.

I read a piece written by a Bulls fan who said that Chicago was going to beat the Cavs in the opening round (not how they could , but that they would ).

And something by a Raptors fan saying how the Cavs avoided playing Toronto in the first round because they were afraid of them.

Seriously?

Well, I had a reason for making such a bold prediction—even if I didn’t fully believe it myself—but I can’t bring myself to say such things. It may have helped get some people to read this, but it would have overshadowed the idea.

With that said…

I have now watched nine Cavalier playoff games after a large number of regular season games. That doesn’t make me an expert on Cavs basketball, but it helps. And with what I see now versus the regular season, I can’t help being frustrated with this team.

Most Cavs fans are frustrated as well.

How good are the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Look at Game Four against Chicago, and Game Three against the Celtics. That is how good this team can be.

They could have swept the Bulls without breaking much of a sweat. They didn’t. Sure, they won the series 4-1, but three of those wins were tough wins.

They could run this Celtics team into the ground. Yet they got blasted in Game Two, and lost Game Four despite slowing down Boston in the second half.

What gives? Bad coaching? (Everyone in Cleveland loves to play that song. I have to admit that after Game Two of this series, I did also.)

Team chemistry? Too many players, too few minutes? Rust? Lebron’s elbow? WHAT?!

No, I don’t think so. I swear...I think they’re bored!

Not that the first two teams are not good teams or a challenge. I just think that they’re still sore from that Orlando series LAST year!

I’m not saying that because I have sources. It’s just the only thing that makes any sense to me as I watch this team cruise in the playoffs. Not cruise to easy victories, but cruise in effort.

Go back to the first round.

Cavs mess around with Chicago, winning the first two. Chicago takes Game Three by beating the Cavs pretty soundly. The Cavs came out in Game Four, apparently insulted by the beating, and demolish the Bulls.

Cavs fans rejoiced. The team was finally awake.

Except they came out in Game Five as asleep as they were for Games One and Two, eking out a win.

So started the Celtics series.

Cavs win Game One with the same effort we saw in the Chicago series.

Celtics came out in Game Two and embarrassed the Cavaliers. James seemed bored with all the hoopla surrounding the loss. Cavs came out in Game Three and handed the Celtics their worst playoff loss ever.

Cavs fans rejoiced. The team was finally awake.

Did it look like the team was awake in Game Four?

The Celtics were diving all over the place for loose balls. The Cavs watched. Glen-freaking-Davis dove to the court and took a loose ball away from the entire Cavs team, who stood there looking like they couldn‘t care less.

Like every Cavs fan, I was angry watching them “play” that game on Sunday. But my mind kept trying to get around the “WTF”, I kept screaming at the television.

Then this idea occurred to me: Maybe they don’t care.

Not that the Celtics aren’t a challenge or a threat, but...maybe the Cavs have nothing to prove by beating the Celtics. Plenty of people have called this series revenge for the 2008 playoff loss.

But really, what revenge?

The Celtics were the better team in ‘08. They should have beaten the Cavaliers. Every playoff loss is a hard loss, but nothing as epic as that loss to the Magic last year.

In 2008, the underdog Cavs took the Celtics to a Game Seven. LeBron James and Paul Pierce had an epic battle, trading blow after blow, with Pierce and the Celtics getting the victory.

This only made the Celtics, the NBA champions, the team to beat in 2009.

In the ‘09 playoffs, the Cavs never came close to beating the Magic, a series they were supposed to win. Heck, not just win, but maybe even SWEEP! This was going to be the year that Kobe and LeBron dueled for the NBA title! Network execs drooled.

But that didn’t happen. The Magic weren’t interested in what everyone wanted. They shot threes. And shot threes. And shot threes. They made the most unbelievable shots. Guys falling into the bench, throwing up a three and the ball going in.

When the series ended after Game Six—and the series was really never even THAT close—the Cavaliers walked off the floor, LeBron James didn’t shake hands, and the Cavs reloaded their team to help them beat the Magic.

You see, for the Cavs, I think it’s all about the Magic. Shaq, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker...these guys were brought in to beat Orlando.

Not because, as with the Celtics the year before, the Magic are the team to beat. This year, I think it’s personal.

And so, as I watch this Cavaliers team seem to drift into these games, playing with less intensity than they did a lot of their regular season games, this is the only thing that makes any sense to me.

The Cavs weren’t interested in the Bulls. They’re not interested in the Celtics. They want the Magic.

What does this mean for Tuesday’s game?

The Cavs don’t want to fall behind and have to win two in a row, and they don’t want to risk that Orlando match up, so I think you’ll see a team with urgency and see them win this game.

Not like Game Three, but I think you’ll see them win this game tonight.

Game Six? Couldn’t tell you. Probably look like Game Five of the Bulls series. Get out front, fall asleep, let Boston back into it, and then squeeze out a victory. Or not.

Again, I don’t know any of this and I’m not trying to make excuses for them. It’s just that nothing else makes sense to me. It’s not like they’re trying real hard, but failing to execute. They’re simply not trying.

And the only conclusion I can come to is that they see these games as the preseason before the regular season begins, that being a seven-game match up with the Orlando Magic.

The Magic are waiting. Now it’s up to the Cavaliers to wake up and get past the Celtics.