NBA

The Cleveland Cavaliers dismantled the Boston Celtics 117-104 on Wednesday night in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals, and the game wasn’t really that close until a late, but futile, Boston push. The Cavs led by 11 after the first quarter and by 22 at halftime. LeBron James did pretty much whatever he wanted, which meant 38 points, nine rebounds, seven assists.

The Cavaliers lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. They’ve won nine straight games in the playoffs. They played after nine days of rest; the Celtics had 48 hours after being extended to seven games by the Washington Wizards.

So we could well be on the path to another rout here. Which means we should turn our focus to the Western Conference.

Or perhaps not.

The Golden State Warriors are 10-0 in the playoffs. They overcame a 25-point deficit in Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs to win and then ran them off the court in a 135-100 rout on Tuesday. Granted, the Spurs are without star forward Kawhi Leonard. If they must resort to faith healers and voodoo to get his injured ankle healthy for Saturday night’s game, then please do so.

Maybe a rematch of the Cavs and Warriors in the NBA Finals will be compelling and competitive. But there’s a little way to go before that can happen and it might not be at all entertaining or interesting. Endless strings of blowouts rarely are.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman