Well-rested and dominating

Heading into the second-round series with Atlanta, a lot was said about the Cavaliers’ potential for being rusty.  An 8-day layover between games was bound to hurt, and with the Hawks coming off their longer series, it was possible that momentum would carry Atlanta to a victory in Game 1 or even Game 2.

• Game 1 – Cavs win by 27
• Game 2 – Cavs win by 20

There goes that theory.

Rather than showing any signs of rust, the Cavaliers instead returned to their desire and thirst for victory.  Along the way, they got some much-needed rest than no other NBA team has been able to see thus far.

The Cavs dispatched Detroit in four games, and it looks like Atlanta may be headed to the same fate, with a slight chance at having to return north to be eliminated in 5 games.  Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, Boston and Orlando both had hard-fought longer battles in the first round, and are going toe-to-toe for their second-round matchup.

This brings me to my point.  The Cavaliers are going to be VERY well rested when the tougher opponents come knocking.  In about 7-10 days, we’re going to be facing the Celtics or the Magic in the Eastern Finals.  By that time, will either team have enough left in their tanks to keep up with LeBron James and Company?

Obviously, the shooting guard position for Orlando is rested, since it changed hands four games ago with the injury to Courtney Lee.  He’s scheduled to return tonight and he’ll be well-rested.  But by the looks of this chart, he’s the ONLY player on either Orlando or Boston’s starting rosters that will be fresh for the third round.

ALL of the starting five Celtic players have played over 300 minutes this postseason….and two of those players are in their 30s.  Two Magic players are over 300 minutes thus far, and their ages are 29 and 30.

Meanwhile, you have LeBron James, the strongest player in the league and only 24 years old…and he’s played a grand total of 187 minutes.  The old man of the club, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, has played the least amount of minutes at 166.  If we get the Magic, that will be useful against a strength like Howard.  If we get Boston, we’ll use Z to pound it inside and force foul trouble on the weaker Boston interior defense.

Right now, these numbers are just that….numbers.  But if the Cavs sweep this series and Boston-Orlando goes 6 or 7 games, it will put a serious strain on our ECF opponent.  LeBron, Delonte and Mo will have the strength left to play all 48 minutes.  But there’s no way that Pierce, Allen, Alston, or Turkaglu will be able to keep up with that.  It’ll lead to tired legs in the 4th quarter, and I think you know who usually takes over in the 4th quarter.

Keep a close eye on the rest of the second-round games.  It’ll be interesting to see how much the Magic and Celtics will take out of each other on their way to Cleveland.