2018 NBA Playoffs: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Indiana Pacers preview

Who will guard LeBron James?

The answer, sadly, is that it probably doesn’t matter. LeBron James has shown time and time again that he will destroy anybody you put in his way. The Indiana Pacers have solid defensive players in Victor Oladipo, Trevor Booker and Thaddeus Young to some degree. Unfortunately, none has the perfect skill-set to match up against LeBron.

Trevor Booker, who has only played 17 games for the Indiana Pacers this year, has the best defensive rating on the team (102.5). He’s probably the best option to stop LeBron as he’s a strong force who won’t get bullied down low, but he won’t be able to keep up with the agility of James. On top of that, Booker so far as played the best defense on the team and is still a net negative on the court. He’s a liability offensively, and will hurt what the Pacers have done so well this year: attack.

The best option for the Indiana Pacers is to play Thaddeus Young on James, know that he’ll do his damage and try to beat him anyway. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a 14-1 record when LeBron James gets a triple-double and they’ve only lost two games when he’s scored 35 points or more. There’s no stopping a guy who averaged 32.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game in the playoffs last year. Your best bet is to try and mitigate as much damage as possible and outscore them.

Aside from LeBron James, Kevin Love has also decided to turn it on before the playoffs in the months of March and April. Since returning from injury, Love is averaging a 122.5 offensive rating. That’s a full 10 points higher than his season average. The Cavaliers have never really had that high of a level of production from Kevin Love in the playoffs. Even the year they won the championship, Love averaged 14.7 points and 8.8 assists per game. If the Pacers have to account for both Playoff LeBron and On Fire Kevin Love, they may have more than they could handle.