CAVS.SPACE

Picture: Cavs Fan Fest at Gateway Plaza and East 6th Street on Monday, April 17th, 2017. 12 down, 4 to go. Tomorrow, the 2017 NBA Finals will begin. History is being made as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are the first pair of teams to play each other in 3 consecutive Finals.  Here is a review of some notes from the past 3 years :  End of 2013-2014 Season 2014-2015 Season 10/27/14: NBA Team Chemistry Rankings: 2014-2015 Beginning of the Season 3.    Golden State Warriors  (5) - They might not have enough to win it all, but they are a steady playoff team for the foreseeable future with the Splash Brothers in town. 6.    Cleveland Cavaliers  (20) - A new coach with some new core stars and role players look to dominate the weak East. Cleveland fans hope that the return of The King equates to championship destiny. 6/11/15: NBA Finals: Game 4 Pregame Notes The Cavaliers take a 2-1 lead head...

Picture: Outside of Quicken Loans Arena on Monday, April 17th, 2017. The Boston Celtics outscored the Cleveland Cavaliers 61-42 in the second half en route to a 111-108 Game 3 upset victory. What are some takeaways from Game 3 heading into Game 4 in Cleveland? Let's start w/ the visiting Celtics : > Marcus Smart seized the day and scored a career-high 27 points starting in place of team MVP Isaiah Thomas. Not only did Smart score like Thomas, but he played much better defense, including helping turn LeBron James into a passer and decoy. > Avery Bradley scored 20 points and hit the clutch game-winner despite shooting 8-23 from the field. Bradley stayed focused as a passer and defender and trusted his ability to hit shots down the stretch. He, Smart, and Jae Crowder combined to play 123 minutes of tight defense on LeBron. > Al Horford posted a -10 +/- but stayed active on offense, finishing with 6 assists despite getting only 2 rebounds. As a team, the Celtics ...

Picture: Outside of Quicken Loans Arena on Monday, April 17th, 2017. 9 down, 7 to go. A few minutes ago, ABC/ESPN reported that the Celtics will be starting Gerald Green at one of the forward positions instead of Amir Johnson. As Joe Vardon from Cleveland.com has reported, the Celtics have posted a better record this postseason with Green starting instead of Johnson (5-1 vs. 3-5). It should be noted that Green played most of his meaningful minutes in the first round vs. Chicago and played mostly in garbage-time minutes vs. Washington. With that said, here are some other adjustments that the Celtics may make in Game 2 : >   Like the 2nd half in Game 1, Kelly Olynyk will likely play several minutes with the starters so that he can match up with Kevin Love on both sides of the court. > Meanwhile, coach Brad Stevens may play Marcus Smart at forward again to get physical with Tristan Thompson. Smart was the team's emotional spark plug in Game 1 and would likely cau...

Picture: Team huddle prior to Game 2 vs. the Indiana Pacers on Monday, April 17th, 2017. 8 down, 8 to go. Two years removed from a first-round sweep, the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves facing a stronger, deeper, more developed Boston Celtics team in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs have swept their way through the first two rounds. After outscoring the Indiana Pacers by 4.0 points per game, they beat the Toronto Raptors--last year's Eastern Conference runners-up--by an average of 15.3 ppg. The Cavs remain one of two unbeaten squads in the playoffs alongside last year's Western Conference champions, the Golden State Warriors. In a  past article , it was stated that  even the best teams make changes to their lineup, and they do this throughout the playoffs.  When it comes down to it, teams typically have: Star players who are core players Role players who are core players Role players who are situational players Bench players who are seco...