Why You Should Fade Cavaliers Ahead of the NBA Playoffs

It seems like forever ago that the Cleveland Cavaliers were the new kids on the block, ready to shock the conference and lead the way. Cleveland, once a top four seed, is now the No. 7 seed and is in danger of falling in the play-in.

The Cavaliers are 8-14 since the All-Star break and have to play the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets to finish out their season. As our Reed Wallach pointed out earlier today, the Cavaliers will likely come out of the regular season bruised and battered. For that, I’m telling you to not trust the Cavaliers in the playoffs. They aren’t ready.

All of this isn’t just because the Cavs started to play poorly. Cleveland has been hit with the injury bug several times this season. Ricky Rubio, the team's back-up point guard, went down. Jarrett Allen has been out for a month and Caris LeVert even missed several weeks due to injury. 

On top of those three being hurt, Evan Mobley has also missed time. He’s missed the last five games with a sprained ankle. If Mobley isn’t ready by the start of the playoffs, Darius Garland might have to go to battle by himself.

Cleveland hasn’t had the best luck, but that is just one factor in why I don’t trust the Cavs to win a series. The Cavs’ offensive game plan has been just to give the ball to Darius Garland and get out the way. That strategy has worked sometimes, but Garland isn’t efficient enough to make it a consistent plan.

Garland is shooting just 42.8% from the field since the All-Star break. Garland is also playing close to 40 minutes per game leading up to the postseason. That puts him at risk of being run into the ground. 

WynnBET currently has the Cavs’ odds to win the title at +10000. Those are fair odds, but I wouldn’t go anywhere near a team with an inefficient lead guard and a banged up frontcourt.

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