The Cleveland Cavaliers have played awful basketball lately and as a consequence, they lost the first seed in the East. With nine games left in the season, head coach of the Cavaliers, Tyronn Lue is considering giving up on the first seed by resting his star players. One of the players who would get rest is LeBron James, and he is not on the same page with the head coach when it comes to rest.
“Coach is going to have his logic of things, but at the end of the day, we need to play,” LeBron James said. He has missed six games this season and some of them were due to rest.
However, LeBron doesn't want to rest anymore since he knows that the first seed is very important and the Cavaliers shouldn't give up on it so easily.
Resting star players makes sense
One of the biggest problems that the Cleveland Cavaliers have faced this season are injuries. Because of this issue, the Cavaliers haven't been able to play well consistently and they've had chemistry issues since a lot of players had to sit out for an extended period of time. Tyronn Lue is trying to figure out how to avoid this problem in the playoffs, and resting his best players makes a lot of sense.
The Cavaliers cannot afford to have their key players injured in the playoffs as it could cost them a championship.
They have underperformed in the regular season, mostly due to injuries, and they cannot allow that to happen in the most important part of the season.
LeBron James should rest
Even though LeBron James wants to play, it would be smart for him to miss at least three more games this season. James ranks second in minutes per game this season with 37.5 and he has missed only six games.
The four-time MVP has also made the last six NBA finals and he has carried a lot of the load on his shoulders for the past few years. It is essential for the Cleveland Cavaliers to have LeBron ready and rested for the playoffs, as he is their best player by a large margin.
Without James in the lineup, the Cavaliers have lost all six games this season. He should definitely rest so he can help his team defend the title and hopefully win his fourth championship ring.
