Maybe LeBron should have cared about seeding
We have that and more in Saturday’s NBA newsletter.
”Listen, it doesn’t matter to me if I’m a six seed or a three seed or a two seed, eight seed.”
Maybe it should have mattered to him.
The Cavaliers ended up the No. 4 seed, which meant that they drew the strongest of the lower seeds in the East playoffs: the Indiana Pacers. And it turns out the Indiana Pacers are pretty good, taking a 2-1 lead on Cleveland after a huge Game 3 win at home on Friday.
We’ll talk more about the Pacers soon, but let this be a red flag to anyone relying on some team flipping a switch and making everything better. Veteran teams can certainly play harder and have more focus in the playoffs. But that’s not a complete salve when the team is critically flawed. This Cavaliers team is a perfect example. You can’t deny that they have a talent issue that it looks like LeBron can’t paper over. They are in huge trouble with Game 4 in Indiana coming up.
Maybe getting a higher seed to avoid such danger in the first round while the switch slowly gets flipped should have mattered a little more.
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Friday’s Scores
Pacers 92, Cavaliers 90
Indiana leads 2-1
Recaps: Indy Cornrows | Fear The Sword
Wizards 122, Raptors 103
Toronto leads 2-1
Recaps: Bullets Forever | Raptors HQ
Bucks 116, Celtics 92
Boston leads 2-1
Recaps: Brew Hoop | CelticsBlog
Saturday’s Schedule
Sixers at Heat, 2:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Philadelphia leads 2-1
Blazers at Pelicans, 5 p.m. ET, TNT
New Orleans leads 3-0
Rockets at Timberwolves, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Houston leads 2-0
Thunder at Jazz, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN
Series tied 1-1
Links on Links on Links
No brooms in the East. The Wizards’ two stars exploded in Game 3 to take out the Raptors, and the Bucks put it all together for at least one night. We could still have three sweeps in the first round in the West, but there won’t be any in the first round in the East.
How wild is this? The Pelicans, should they finish the job Saturday at home, would be the only team to advance to the second round as of Sunday morning. In the unlikely event the Warriors lose Game 4 Sunday, we could go into Monday with New Orleans being the only team resting and preparing to move on. Phenomenal turn of events.
Seerat Sohi on how Kyle Lowry taking a step back helped the Raptors take a step forward.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 30 in a critical game against the three-time defending East champs. Bojan. Bogdanovic.
You know what makes the Cavaliers’ loss worse? LeBron got them all matching tailored suits. He’s already played the “expensive, personal gift” card!
I always enjoy reading Kevin Arnovitz’s massive head coach candidate breakdown. My prediction is that Jerry Stackhouse and David Fizdale definitely get head coach jobs. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess.
A confused reporter referred to Khris Middleton as “Jabari” during pre-game media availability and asked questions one would typically expect to be asked of Jabari Parker. Middleton went off for 23-8-7 in the Bucks’ win. Then the dude that called Middleton “Jabari” earlier in the day tried to ask Middleton a question in the post-game press conference. And Middleton (with an assist from Giannis Antetokounmpo) called him out on it!
Mike Budenholzer is meeting with the Knicks now. Dude is not staying in Atlanta, that’s clear.
Oh my Shammgod these collegiate Jeopardy! contestants pretending to play basketball is the greatest thing ever. Now I understand why Tufts has such a competitive basketball program!
And finally: 30 irrational fears that you didn’t know you also had. Sorry.
Be excellent to each other.
