The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Golden State Warriors in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day NBA Finals rematch, but a game-time decision nearly robbed fans of the full experience.
The Cavaliers considered sitting LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love against the Warriors
That would have made for one very, very one-sided Finals rematch.
Cleveland, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes, thought about resting LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love for the holiday headliner.
Wrote Haynes:
League sources told ESPN that some within the Cavaliers’ organization briefly pondered sitting out the trio, but the desire to improve and gain valuable repetition against one of the NBA’s elite teams trumped that logic.
In their last matchup on Christmas Day, Cleveland completed a 14-point comeback capped off by an iconic, go-ahead Kyrie Irving turnaround jump shot over Klay Thompson’s outstretched arms.
James (31 points), Irving (25), and Love (20) combined for 76 of the Cavaliers’ 109 points in their win over Golden State. The Cavaliers (29-10) enter MLK Day winners of six of their last 10 games, while the scorching hot Warriors (34-6) have won eight of their last 10 games.
It’s safe to say basketball fans dodged a bullet on this one.
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