Cleveland Cavaliers #2 (53-29)
The latest incarnation of the Cavaliers boasts the return of Ohio's prodigal son, Lebron James. After finding the reguar season easy going and meshing the talents of Lebron with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love and honing the offense to a razor's edge, the Cavaliers look to overcome adversity in what once was considered a formality before reaching the finals. Kevin Love has been lost for the season and sharpshooting guard JR Smith finds himself suspended for the first two games of this series.
Rookie coach David Blatt has faced the most intense of scrutiny after being gifted this roster and has come through with shining colors, his resolve will now be tested as he loses much of the spacing that allowed his offense to shine during the regular season, he can always look to the fact that these two are pretty good and capable of carrying games by themselves
Playoff trends: The Cavs lead the playoffs in percentage of shots from the 3pt line, in best 3pt defense. The Cavs have the lowest assist rate in the playoffs, at 48% which is down from 59% in the regular season. Lebron leads the playoffs in drives per game and isos.
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Chicago Bulls #3 (50-32)
Chicago's own prodigal son, Derrick Rose, has returned to playoff basketball after that ill fated night against the Sixers. Derrick has only two cohorts left from the club that met Lebron in the Eastern Finals in 2011, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah. The new faces he has to go to war with include Pau Gasol, the new All Star version of Jimmy Butler, and euroleague rookie sensation Nikola Mirotic. The bulls are still coached by taskmaster Tom Thibodeau, one of the few coaches who found a way to reign in Lebron before his current streak of finals appearances.
Derrick is only 11 games removed from returning from meniscus surgery, will Jimmy Butler find a way to continue his playoff emergence against the best player in the game? Will Derrick take or get his lunch money taken by Kyrie? How will David Blatt respond to the mismatches Tom Thibodeau will throw at him with his roster down 2 rotation players? These answers will come starting at 7Eastern/6Central tonight.
Playoff notes: Bulls are allowing 11.5 less points per 100 possessions in the playoffs, the best improvement of all playoff teams. They are holding opponents under 50% in the restricted area, also tops for playoff teams. They are turning the ball over on 17.5% of their possessions, tops in the playoffs. They are assisting on 71% of their baskets, tops in the playoffs.
This is the series that will determine who goes to the finals, don't let anyone else tell you differently. And if they do tell you, differently, tell them this