It seemed like as the series went on, the Magic played a little better each game and the Cavs a little worse. I was going to give the Cavs a tiny bit of a pass if they lost the series because Jarett Allen is out with a rib injury. He missed the last three games...I consider him probably the second best (most important?) player on the team after Donovan Mitchell only because JA averaged a double-double this season.
One big reason I don't think this is the Cavs' year: Donovan Mitchell is, of course, a superstar in the league but he doesn't have a ton of support. I think in a few years, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, and maybe a couple other young Cavs players, will be excellent players but right now, they're all still young and inexperienced and prone to ill-timed slumps.
It might not be true but for a long time I've held to the idea that the truly great teams have at least three stars who can bring it on any given night. I grew up in the era of Bird/Parrish/McHale (Celtics) and Magic/Kareem/James Worthy (Lakers) and later Jordan/Pippen/either Cartright or Grant (Bulls). Teams with only one or two superstars struggle.
The Pacers/Knicks play tomorrow night.
I'm rooting for the Pacers because a) after the Cavs, I'll root for any Midwest team <g> and b) Cleveland sports fans dislike the Knicks almost as much as we dislike the Yankees.
Ideally I would like a Pacers/Cavs Eastern Conference Finals where I could be far more accepting of a Cavs win because LeBitch is no longer on the team :P
Hee--same! Though I grudgingly accepted LeBron when he brought Cleveland its first major sports championship in almost 50 years (the Cleveland Crunch, who won the major league indoor soccer championship don't count because back then, nobody cared about soccer...and many in Cleveland still don't).
However it's probably going to be a Knicks/Celtics Eastern Conference Finals (ugh)
IA. And...ugh
