Cavaliers gaining steam in push to ruin Warriors' storybook season

Don't look now, but all the inane drama wracking the Cleveland Cavaliers has dissipated.

For most of the season, fans were encapsulated by the Golden State Warriors' shiny chase for immortality. Driven to greatness by a petty need to hush all the haters, the reigning champions, led by a two-time MVP enjoying one of the best offensive seasons ever, did the impossible by winning 73 games.

Paling in comparison were the Cavaliers, who were besieged by episodes of petty infighting. They were depicted as a disappointment. Coach firings, cryptic tweets, and trade rumors - nothing positive stemmed from The Land.

But the Cavaliers are flipping the script.

Gone are the days of quibbling and passive-aggressive remarks. All that's left now is an invincible juggernaut heading full steam towards the NBA Finals.

They're focused, they're dominant, they're well-rested, they're gunning for the championship, and the Cavaliers are hell-bent on ruining the Warriors' storybook season.

War of attrition

With all due respect to the Toronto Raptors, the Cavaliers will almost assuredly sweep, or issue a gentleman's sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Already short on talent, the Raptors are also failing to match Cleveland's energy. And that shouldn't come as a surprise - Cleveland had a full nine days to rest before tipping off the third round. The Raptors have played every other night dating back to April.

The Raptors only have themselves to blame. They showed tremendous resolve in winning two Game 7's, but needing to go that far cost them a chance to recoup. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan rank first and second in minutes played in the postseason respectively.

Another short series would give Cleveland even more time to recover ahead of the Finals.

Meanwhile, whoever emerges from the West will be bruised and battered.

LeBron James can kick-up his feet as he watches the Warriors and Thunder give each other all they can handle in a long and epic series. James, who gets to deal with DeMarre Carroll, while at the same time Stephen Curry and Draymond Green grapple with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

Just compare the difference in minutes played across the leaders on each team. James has played significantly fewer minutes than the leaders on either the Warriors or the Thunder.

GSW	MIN	CLE	MIN	OKC	MIN
Draymond Green	448	LeBron James	373	Kevin Durant	518
Klay Thompson	430	Kyrie Irving	358	Russell Westbrook	472
Harrison Barnes	379	J.R. Smith	334	Steven Adams	426

As it happens, the Warriors are also banged up. Curry has shown flashes of brilliance, but he's still not quite fully up to speed after spraining his MCL. Andrew Bogut is also dealing with a strained adductor, while Green suffered ankle injuries in the second round.

Cleveland, thanks to their run of dominance in the Eastern conference, is perfectly healthy, and they're saving up their energy in anticipation for whichever worn-down opponent emerges from the West.

Firing on all cylinders

Last season, the Cavaliers were the ones who were banged up. Having lost Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injuries, James was left by his lonesome to put his team on his back with triple-double performances every night.

Last year's Cavaliers were a one-man show. This year, it's a team effort.

Thanks to clever adjustments made by Tyronn Lue, the Cavaliers have found a tight nine-man rotation flush with an excess of shooting and playmaking. Cleveland boasts the most efficient offense in the postseason (scoring an absurd 116.9 points per 100 possessions) and they field six players shooting better than 44 percent from deep.

Cleveland's offense starts with Irving and James breaking down the defense at the point of attack. They're simply too deadly to cover without sending help, but once extra defenders arrive, James and Irving are kicking it out to find the open shooter.

Two-fifths of Cleveland's shots have come from beyond the arc where they're connecting on 44.7 percent of their tries. Both marks top all teams in the playoffs.

More importantly, all their star players are playing exceptionally well.

James has been excellent as usual, but it's the play of Love and Irving that have come as pleasant surprises. Irving leads the team in playoff scoring with 24.8 points per game, while Love is putting up 18.4 points and 10.9 rebounds.

That marks the biggest difference between this year's team from the iteration that made the Finals last season. That team struggled to generate offense and relied on an exhausted James to carry the entire team. This time around, Cleveland's healthy, they're well-rested, everything's clicking, and they're looking for revenge.

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Cavaliers gaining steam in push to ruin Warriors' storybook season