Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Once again, the Atlanta Hawks stand no chance in these Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. I said it after Game 1, and I’ll say it again — the best player in the world is dominating, the role players are rolling, and the shots are falling for Cleveland. What else is there? Ah yes, injuries.
If David Blatt is smart, he will rest Kyrie Irving for the rest of the third round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavaliers are simply dominating in almost every way against the Hawks right now, so there is absolutely no reason why Irving should return until the NBA Finals begin. Matthew Dellavedova was a great draft pick in 2013, and his contributions are sure to continue as he adds more games to his resume. JR Smith and Iman Shumpert are playing terrific on the perimeter. Not to mention, the bigs of Timofey Mosgov and Tristan Thompson are playing like beasts in the paint. And, of course, they have LeBron James, who is simply the best player on the court, bar none.
If coach Blatt wishes to give LeBron a lighter load come the Finals, they will need Irving back at his best. Uncle Drew needs to be Uncle Drew again. And, if you don’t know who that is, look him up on YouTube. He might still possibly have the best handles in the league. And yes, that includes current MVP Stephan Curry.
King James is on a mission this year, and I see no reason to believe he won’t achieve his goal. He started his career in Cleveland searching for a title, got frustrated, learned some lessons in Miami, and now he’s back home where he belongs, with a determination he didn’t have before.
If coach Blatt rests Irving for the remainder of the series against Atlanta, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be the 2015 NBA champions, without a doubt.
Samuel Martell is Oklahoma City’s beat writer at www.RantSports.com. To stay connected, ‘follow’ him on Twitter, ‘like’ him on Facebook, or ‘add’ him to your network on Google.
