Every championship team needs a little bit of luck to push them all the way to the end. That’s just how things work. You can be the best squad in the league, but have one unlucky thing happen and your title hopes can be shattered faster than a mirror in a bull pen.
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You would be hard pressed to find a past title team that didn’t have any luck along its journey. You’re far more likely to find it swirling about them in so many different colours that their postseason run looks like a rainbow of joy.
A few recent examples: Kendrick Perkins got hurt in the 2010 NBA Finals and the Boston Celtics lost Game 7; Mike Miller hit seven three-pointers in the closeout Game 5 of the 2012 Finals; the Houston Rockets lost to the Portland Trail Blazers on a Damian Lillard dagger, and they would have been a much more difficult second round matchup for the San Antonio Spurs who went on to win the 2014 title.
And there are a zillion more.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win a title this season, then they too need a bit of that fairy dust. They’ve already been blessed in one way: the East isn’t very good. Other than the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls, the conference doesn’t really pose much of a threat.
Another lucky thing that’s already happened is the way the team has come together to mesh about as well as a completely revamped roster can. There were critics early on in the season who thought that the team might not be able to mesh at all and there were even more who questioned the notion that Cleveland would be able to put it together in their first season together.
The Cavs have brushed that thought aside, becoming one of the most intimidating offensive forces in the game and picking up their defensive intensity as well. Their roster is much, much deeper than it was at the beginning of the season and now some of the veterans who had to play too many minutes early on don’t have to play at all and can instead give advice to the younger guys while also providing a steadying locker room presence.
The balance of players is there. David Blatt is being listened to, it seems (or at least no longer has issues with LeBron James). And Kevin Love and LeBron have pushed away notions of their conflicting personalities being an issue with plays like this:
Now one problem remains; the one that haunts all teams trying to make a deep run into the gritty depths of the postseason.
Injuries.
In last night’s game against the Philadelphia Sixers, which of course was a pointless game, both Love and Iman Shumpert went down with injury. Love had to leave the game with lower back issues and just before he left the court it looked as if he could barely move. Shump tweaked his ankle going up for a dunk and he, like Love, left the game immediately.
These are the sorts of things that can terminate a playoff run. The Cavaliers are immensely talented, even without Love and Shump in the lineup, but they’re going to need every ounce of help they can get as the rounds get tougher.
Remember when Chris Bosh went down during the Miami Heat’s series with Indiana back in 2012? They survived for a little while without him on the backs of LeBron and Dwyane Wade, but once they got to a certain point they needed him back. Of course, he returned in time.
Guys like Love and Shumpert have histories of injury. Love has dealt with back problems all season and even smaller things like a hand injury. Shump was just getting ready to come back to play when he was traded by the New York Knicks to Cleveland.
Besides those two, Kyrie Irving has missed a couple games this season, J.R. Smith missed a portion of the season when he was with New York, Shawn Marion has been hurt and even LeBron himself has been proven mortal when he missed a couple weeks to rehab his body.
Any one of these things, should they occur in the playoffs, could derail the Cavs’ hopes at getting to the Finals or winning it all.
There’s always a bit of luck involved to help the great teams along, but luck doesn’t care if you’re great. Luck just doesn’t care.
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