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There are literally maybe 3-5 teams in the league that matter(have any shot at all at reaching or winning the Finals)
What the Spurs, Warriors or us for that matter have done against the other 25-27 teams counts but does not give me any basis to fear either team.
Agreed, there are three teams competing for the finals. OKC has the talent, but we haven't seen them play at the level of Warriors, Spurs, or even the Cavs.
Your aforementioned statement does nothing to warrant this contention. Spurs are playing at a level defensively that has rarely been seen in NBA history. Add to that they have an incredibly efficient offense, which rarely falters, and they are better than us on paper.I can not see any evidence or basis to suggest that "the Spurs WOULD crush us" Regardless of how this 4 game road trip against 4 separate teams plays out
Why is that? First, they have both an offensive and defensive system. We clearly have an effective form for the latter, but there is no system for the former. Zero.
But secondly, the Spurs provide problematic matchups for us. You need good post defenders to stop them from scoring easily in the post. Mozgov is alright, but he is nowhere near the level he was last season (see my article on that here - http://sportsbystats.com/2016/01/07...-hope-to-compete-with-the-best-in-the-league/). On top of that, Kawhi has always been able to contain Lebron better than any other NBA player. This means Kyrie and Love need to do the majority of the offensive heavy lifting. I have complete faith that Kyrie could average 40/10 against the Spurs, but Love will also need to get significant opportunities in the post, which I've written about and it is currently not happening (http://rcfsports.com/2016/01/02/can-the-cavaliers-find-their-offense-in-2016/).
Thankfully for us, the post-season does not start today. I ultimately believe we have the potential to figure this out. The reason these next four games are important is because they let us demonstrate how we react to challenges posed to us by the best teams in the NBA. I was thrilled with our first game against the Warriors. It demonstrated our defense against them in the finals was no fluke. But we've got a long way to go before we can compete with the Spurs. I don't base that on their Net Rating or point differential, I base it on the multiple times I've watched San Antonio this season. Unless we get Love involved more and Moz finds the "old Moz," the Spurs are the better team. Thankfully, as I keep repeating, that is only right now, and we can absolutely fix it.
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