Live Thread: Cavs @ Celtics

The Cavs currently have 50 wins and have been rounding into a respectable team the past three games. The Celtics also have 50 wins. In a weird confluence of events, this regular season game actually sort of matters. Whatever ever team wins this becomes the number one seed in the East, at least for the night.

The Cavs have beat the Celtics twice this year and lost just once. A win tonight would give them the tie-breaker if they finished with the same record as Boston.

“Of course, this is just the regular season, the Cavs don’t care about seeds, and they just want to be healthy. They’ll turn it on during the playoffs and beat whoever they face.”

That’s what I’m going to tell myself if the Cavs lose tonight to feel just a little bit better.

Maybe I’m weird, but I actually think this game matters a lot.

For one thing, it’s essentially for the one seed. It’s 48 minutes to garner the title of Eastern regular season champions. I know no one cares about having the most regular season wins in their conference, especially if its not the most in the league, just ask the Warriors ,who lost the Finals with a 3-1 lead.

However, for Cleveland, this game is a chance to show they can turn it on still (the seed is just icing on the cake). This game has some importance. A solid soul stomping win tonight against the supposed team that is ready to beat them in the playoffs to represent the East in June would let the Cavs actually rest. They would know they can do whatever they want, when they want.

Tyronn Lue could finally feel okay sitting some guys. Imagine that. And then the “it’s all okay” philosophy I espoused above could be true, only I might actually believe it and the Cavs would get the one seed.

Thing to Watch

1. Cleveland has to shut down Isaiah Thomas. Thomas has averaged 30 points and 6.7 assists in the previous three meetings. He’s the man who makes the Celtics go and Kyrie Irving is the man that usually lets him do that. Irving will get his against Thomas, but Lue needs to be smart. If Irving isn’t defending, play someone else to stop Thomas.
2. Kevin Love should fight his way down low all night. Who on the Celtics is stopping him? Al Horford is good, but he isn’t big enough to stop him in the paint.
3. And, let’s not forget about LeBron James. Can Jae Crowder stop him one-on-one? Probably not, but he can slow him. LeBron needs to force the issue. Once he penetrates against the Celtics, he is going straight to the rack. They don’t have a single rim protector he would think twice about going against. The Celtics will have to help each other a ton. Let’s hope all the role players are ready to hit some 3s.

Tristan Thompson will be out tonight with a sprained thumb. This is the first game Tristan has missed since 2012. This will be the first game in 447 that Cleveland has had to win without Canadian TNT.