Cavaliers Wins the Series But in Danger

The Cavs wins the series against Boston Celtics in a physical game to advance to the conference semifinals waiting for either the Bulls or the Bucks. But their team is in danger in their next round due to the fact that Kevin Love is injured and JR Smith will have a probable suspension. The Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics Sunday, finishing off the No. 7 seed in a 101-93 Game 4 win Sunday at TD Garden. 

Kevin Love was hurt early in the first quarter trying to get a rebound when he got tangled up with Celtics reserve big man Kelly Olynyk and got his left arm dislocated when Olynynk yanked his arm. "I thought It was a bush league play," Love said afterwards from the Cleveland locker room with arm in a sling. "I was out there and Olynynk was in a compromised position with no chance to get the ball, and it's just too bad that he would go to those lengths to take somebody out the game and do that to someone. I have no doubt in my mind that he did that on purpose." 

Love will be reevaluated on Monday, so there is no telling what his status will be as the Cavaliers await the winner of the Chicago Bulls (up 3-1) and Milwaukee Bucks series. Injuries of this nature can require varying degrees of treatment, depending on if there was just a sprain associated with the dislocated shoulder or a tear of the labrum or rotator cuff, according to a head athletic trainer for one NBA team. A minimum 2-3 weeks is a standard recovery time for a sprain. A labrum tear or rotator cuff tear could require surgery and anywhere from 4-6 months recovery time.

JR Smith also got ejected due to a Flagrant 2. Smith delivered the blow after halftime, swinging and knocking Jae Crowder to the the floor as the two battled under the basket fighting for position on a rebound with 10:24 to play. Crowder sprained his left knee on the fall and Smith was ejected. He knows that a suspension is on the way. 

 

Kevin Love said he expects the league to look at the play and the punishment for Olynyk needs to be "just and swift." Smith, on the other hand, is sure to see a multiple game suspension for the lick he passed, a vicious, no-look right hand that caught Crowder clean across the chin. 

"This is a beautiful game and it's also a physical game," Cleveland coach David Blatt said addressing the play Love was injured on while also acknowledging the inevitable where Smith is concerned. "And you have to expect the physicality. But there's a line that shouldn't be crossed and that's what the league is for." 

The Big Three of the Cavaliers wins their first playoff series together but will be at a disadvantage in the next game. All of the good vibrations from this Cavaliers crew completing their first playoff series together as a group, the need for LeBron James, Love and Kyrie Irving to cross this first item off their postseason bucket list as a Big Three, pales in comparison to the reality of their situation going forward. But sadly, the Cavaliers took a lot of damage because they engaged the Celtics in a street fight rather than rising above the chippy play and just allowing their talent and seasoning to rule the day. 

"You want to play the game of basketball the right way," LeBron said. "You want to play physical. But you never want to have the game to get out of hand where you have injuries. And we had two of them tonight. And you don't wish that on nobody. And now look where we are sitting, possibly with one of our big guys out possibly, and their respective team they have a guy who may be out for a period of time as well. So you don't ever want the game to get out of hand. You just want guys to play the game right way." 

Cleveland Cavaliers still have some time to fill in others players for the two as the team wait for their opponent. Cavaliers will have some time to see what they did well and what they didn't do as well against the Celtics. They should have time to dissect the video from these first four playoff games for this group and come up with some remedies for whatever didn't work and fine-tune the things that did. 

Love and Smith both are great shooters and can make the offense flow especially when Lebron is doubled. Both of them can make clutch shots and they will be badly needed for the coming games if the Cavaliers continue to advance. 

In the end of the day, the goal was fulfilled. The Cavaliers takes the win and advance, but could pay for it dearly in the immediate future, depending on the word on Love's shoulder and Smith's suspension.

The “Truth” Shall Prevail

 
This is what happened in the series between Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors, which ended in a four-game sweep after the Wizards pummeled the Raptors, 125-94, in Game 4 on Sunday. These teams were separated by just three games in the regular season standings. Both had great starts, combining to go 46-15 through Dec. 29. And both were rather mediocre after that. They suffered losses right after the All Star break. But before the series began, Paul Pierce of the wizards throws some intimidating comments to the Raptors team that ignites the drama of the series. Moreover, Paul Pierce proves that his comments were real.

These two teams were expected to have at least a game 6 or go to a “do or die” game 7. Instead, these teams went in completely opposite directions. The Wizards maintained their status as a top-five defensive team, while scoring at a rate that was more efficient than any four-game stretch they've played since early December. The Raptors, meanwhile, maintained their status as a bottom-10 defensive team, while failing apart offensively. 

Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry suffered foul troubles throughout and was also overwhelmed by his match-up John Wall of the Wizards. Also, Lowry has very few contributions in terms of scoring which is expected from him because he is one of Toronto’s star players. The Wizards responded as a good team should. They moved the ball quickly until it found the open man. They're not the Spurs, but they were the much more reasonable facsimile in this series. The Wizards played unselfish basketball by creating shots through assist. Over the four games, the Wizards passed the ball 219 more times than the Raptors. And in the context of how the teams tried to defend each other, that number says it all. 

Marcin Gortat played well for the Wizards and proves himself as one of the necessary pieces. "It was a process for us," Wizards center Marcin Gortat said afterward, giving credit to reserve Drew Gooden as an offensive spark who moved the ball, set screens and spread the floor. "We just started playing together, having fun, distributing the ball. It doesn't matter who's going to score, as long as we're winning. I think we understood this at the end of the season. Now we're having fun playing like that in the playoffs." 

DeMar DeRozan pushed his team to compete but it wasn’t enough. The Raptors could not execute defense enough to limit the Wizard’s offense. All they can do is look back at DeMar DeRozan’s late-November groin injury as the turning point of their season. They had been playing well on both ends of the floor until that point, but as head coach Dwane Casey tells it, they then got too focused on how they'd keep their offense afloat without their leading scorer. At that point, their defense went in the tank, and it never returned. 

Toronto takes an unwanted early vacation. General manager Masai Ujiri will have to figure out if the defense can be restored with the existing roster and staff. And while he's at it, he'll need to determine if the Raptors' top-five ranking on offense was just a regular-season thing that fell apart when they were forced to play together and move the ball. 

John Wall made his team flexible by distributing the ball. That's what the Wizards have done. Paul Pierce won't be going through customs until it's time to take his family on a summer vacation. His team is moving on to the conference semifinals as a much different squad than they were just two weeks ago.