Ryan and Matt discuss the Cavs bad luck in drawing Brooklyn, and how Kevin Durant as a distributor is better for the Nets
Ryan Griffin: But the Cavs have been really good. J. B. Bickerstaff’s done a great job with them over there. And I just feel bad for them that they got the Brooklyn draw because now Brooklyn does have Kyrie back and Kyrie is not going to miss any of these playoff games. You wouldn’t think unless it’s due to injury.
But he can now play in New York. They go to Toronto in some weird way. Maybe you still can’t play there, but he’s going to be able to play against the Cavs. He’s going to be able to play against whoever they might take on in the next round, and, for Cleveland, this seems like a pretty hefty mismatch.
And if they’re able to get this game kudos to them, but I think they should be in that next game, the Atlanta and Hornets game to see if they jump on one of them. Cause I don’t think it’s happening here.
Matt Bassin: Yeah. Without Jarrett Allen that has been a giant difference-maker.
The man broke his finger, with Jarrett Allen they’re the 4th best defensive team in the NBA, without him? They’re 22nd, there are seven and 11 in the 18 games that he went down three and eight in their last 11 coming into this game. And the last time they played the Nets, which was last week, they had no way of stopping Andre Drummond, at 15 points, 12 boards, they had no one up there to go up against him. And yes, you would think Evan Mobley is going to be tasked with that, but he is still a rookie. And like you say, it’s an uphill battle. Even if they had Jarrett Allen and Collin Sexton it’d be an uphill battle.
But without those two, unless Darius Garland really goes off and Mobley follows him with some Kareem Abdul Jabbar numbers of 30 plus points and 20 rebounds. You’re thinking the Cavs definitely should be looking forward to hosting the winner of the Atlanta/Charlotte matchup.
Ryan Griffin: So like I said I think they’ll make quick work of it, it just gets different in the playoffs when you got guys like Kyrie and Kevin Durant.
Matt Bassin: When you’ve got two guys that can go out for 30 easily, Durant averaged basically 30 this season, Irving when he played a little over 27, and on top of that, you got Steph Curry coming in, right behind them with, 15 a game as well.
And Durant finding out more and more that, he played a little bit more like LeBron and dishes out assists, this team wins a heck of a lot more. When Durant’s out there averaging nine assists or more, the nets are nine and two. When he drops 35 points a game, they are seven and six. So getting his teammates involved, he’s already seen the numbers produce.
And when you have Kyrie right there, it’s really easy to get that teammate involved.
Ryan Griffin: Yeah. Kyrie doesn’t even need you to get him involved, to get involved himself.
Matt Bassin: We’re all praying for Cleveland in this one, but we’ll see what happens.
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