LeBron James' surging Cleveland Cavaliers are looking the best they have all season (and have propelled LeBron back into the thick of the MVP discussion), but LeBron and Co., as one would expect, are already thinking ahead to the postseason. With 14 games left in the Cavaliers' regular season, LeBron is looking to score some rest down the stretch.
"I would love to get some more rest, especially going into the playoffs and knowing how important those games are, and how physically taxing those games can be, mentally as well, so we’ll see what happens," he told Cleveland.com last night.
"More rest" will bring back memories of when LeBron took two weeks off in January to recharge and reboot. The Cavaliers went 1-7 during that stretch, and are 2-8 on the season without LeBron, who's already missed a career-high 11 games while averaging a career-low 36.3 minutes per game (that's disgusting). He's been dealing with a variety of nagging ailments throughout the season, including a balky lower back.
Here's a convenient explanation for James' desire to sit out a little more: Playoff seeding. Yes, he could probably use the rest—he's about to eclipse 42,000 career minutes this season—but check out the standings and schedule: 11 of the Cavaliers' final 14 games are on the road, but only 6 of them are against opponents with a record above .500. Should they body those stretch of games with LeBron, or look ahead?
The Cavaliers are sitting in the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed, which means they'd have to face the No. 7 seed Indiana Pacers in the first round. Nobody wants to play the Pacers right now. They're 9-1 in their last 10, and Paul George might be back in time for the playoffs. It wouldn't the worst thing if the Cavs curved those last games to avoid the Pacers, who'll definitely be the Eastern Conference's toughest out next month.
Although it may result in actual losses, it may be in the best interest for the Cavs to take the L's, let LeBron get in "no texting, it's the playoffs" mode, and prepare for what the Eastern Conference will have in store come mid-April.
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[via ProBasketballTalk]
