The Cleveland Cavaliers for the second consecutive year have swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs putting themselves another step closer to reaching the NBA Finals for a third straight time.
In the process, the Cavaliers’ dominance against the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors combined with the Eastern Conference semifinals matchup between the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics going seven games has given LeBron James and his teammates the longest rest between postseason series in team history.
James has certainly done his part in the playoffs to earn this time off to recuperate by averaging a team-high 34.4 points on 55.7 percent shooting from the field along with a career-high 46.8 percent from beyond the arc with 9.0 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.5 blocks in 42.4 minutes per game.
This includes scoring 30 or more points in seven of the eight games played while notching five double-doubles and one triple-double. In fact, it could be argued that James is playing the best basketball of his career at the age of 32, which is a mind boggling thought for a player who is just six minutes short of 50,000 total career minutes played in the NBA.
The extended time off to rest and prepare for the next portion of the playoffs could see an even more energized James and Cavaliers squad. Cleveland has been nothing short of a well-oiled offensive machine in the playoffs averaging 114.5 points per game while hitting the century mark in each contest and scoring more than 110 points fives times.
All of this could spell trouble for either the Celtics or Wizards, who will be coming off a seven-game series with little rest to prepare for the defending NBA champions.