Here's a question that a few of my friends have been throwing around. If the Cavs played a 7 game playoff series against any of the Western Conference teams, could they beat anybody? If so, who would they beat? The East Valley Tribune in Phoenix posed the same question, Who could Cavaliers beat in West?
We have the Mavericks, Suns and Spurs. Um, nope.
Then we have the Jazz, Rockets and Nuggets. Hmm.
The Cavs had better beat the seventh-seeded Lakers (even ABC could sell Kobe vs. LeBron, especially now that "The Sopranos" have been whacked), because I think No. 8 Golden State would have run them off the court. Even the Clippers -- who missed the postseason completely -- aren't a great matchup for King James and his court.
All day baby, all day!
The Warriors would easily run past these Cavs. The Warriors match up well against them because the Cavs are a big team, not a quick and big team like Utah was. At every position (except whereever LeBron decides to play), the Warriors have the faster, quicker player. Who's going to guard Baron Davis? Nobody. Who's going to stop Stephen Jackson? LeBron would guard him but his defense is not stellar. Additionally, the Warriors would absolutely abuse Big Z because he's too slow to guard Al Harrington in a half court set or Andris Biedrins in an up and down game. Okay, so who's going to guard LeBron? It would start with Jax and everyone would get their chance. And lastly, is there any question about who is the better coach? Nellie or Mike Brown?
To the Cavs fans who will point to the Cavs two regular season wins against the Warriors, January 20 - Cavs 106-104 and January 30 - Cavs 124-97, let me tell you that the Warriors team you beat back then was a completely different team than the one that beat the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs. So, I'd say Warriors would win in 6. We don't even need to break out the We Believe shirts.
It's a sad state of affairs for the NBA where the Eastern Conference Finals representative is possibly the 10th best team in the league. I'd be happy if they were at least a top 5 team, but they aren't. Furthermore, it's a sad state for the fans because the Finals are supposed to be the biggest and most exciting stage for them to watch two of the best teams. As a Warriors fan, it's disgusting to see a team that I know the Warriors can beat still playing. This is a far cry from some of the greatest finals in NBA history. In fact, this is probably one of the worst NBA Finals ever not just because of the potential sweep, but because the all but one of the best teams are not playing anymore.
Something needs to be fixed especially with Oden and Durant heading out West. It will only get worse for the East. Miami's championship last year was big for the East but covered up the imbalance of talent in the NBA. I don't have any answers right now, but the NBA should recognize the problem and figure out a way to deal with it unless they feel that in the next 3-4 years things will rebalance. If they don't fix it, they'll probably continue to get poor ratings in the NBA finals.
Do you think the Cavs could beat any of the Western Conference playoff teams? If so, which teams?