Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Reasons They’re The Current Title Favorites

2. KD Injury

Golden State missing Kevin Durant would obviously help make Cleveland the title favorites, but since he’s expected to be back for the postseason, why does this matter? For a recent example of how hard it is to shake off injury-related rust in the postseason, look no further than Stephen Curry last year.

The Cavaliers did a great job guarding him in last year’s Finals series, sure. But anyone who thought that was the same old Steph Curry out there is kidding themselves after his knee sprain that forced him to miss two weeks of his team’s playoff run.

But what about Curry’s 40-point masterpiece in his first game back against Portland? is what you’re probably wondering. Injuries like that rob a player of their consistency, not their peak. Curry was good for a few detonations, but in a seven-game Finals series, he never got in a rhythm, his burst wasn’t the same and the foul trouble certainly didn’t help.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Golden State could be facing a similar situation in their playoff run this season, even if they get KD back at the beginning of April and secure the No. 1 seed in the West. This isn’t some knee-jerk reaction to the Warriors losing consecutive regular season games for the first time since 2015, nor is it an overreaction to Steph Curry’s recent shooting slump. It goes deeper than that.

A trio of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green is still good enough to win ball games, but there is no Harrison Barnes or Andrew Bogut supporting them this time around.

Those spots are now filled by rookie Patrick McCaw and Zaza Pachulia, taking a further toll on Golden State’s bench depth (even with the addition of Matt Barnes). And of course, this is all assuming KD is ready to return when he’s due for re-evaluation, and that there are no further setbacks the rest of the way.

The Cavs are still waiting to get Kevin Love and J.R. Smith back from injuries as well, so they’ll have similar issues to deal with. But the Warriors missing KD is very different from the Cavs missing the third-most important member of their Big Three and Smith, whose shooting is entirely replaceable in the Cavs’ system by Korver.

With Love and J.R. set to return soon anyway, cohesion and momentum will be on Cleveland’s side, especially if they’re able to make short work of their competition in the Eastern Conference playoffs.