The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics appear to be on a collision course to meet in the 2018 Eastern Conference finals.
But before that happens, they will square off on Oct. 17 to open the 2017-18 NBA season. And that’s apparently got the Cavs fired up.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported Thursday on “The Jump,” that the Cavaliers are hungry for their first tilt with ex-teammate Kyrie Irving and the C’s.
“Right now, things are good,” McMenamin said. “Not only are they good, but there is a clear collection of talent, that can most likely get back to the NBA Finals. But they have a motivating factor to begin the season in playing Boston on opening night. The guys care about that, versus the Cavs in years past, they might not care until the Christmas Day game against the Warriors, kind of yawn through the first couple months. They care about opening night against the Celtics.”
And McMenamin believes the Cavs could be better without Irving, who was traded to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round draft pick.
“Kyrie’s fantastic, averaged 30 points in the NBA Finals, single handily won a game against the Warriors,” McMenamin said. “But, perhaps, if you removed that discontent, it’s replaced by guys with hunger and drive, a guy like Derrick Rose, Jeff Green, trying to get up to that level that they haven’t reached as a champion, that atmosphere can mean something to everyone moving forward.”
While the Cavs likely will be without Thomas for the first few months of the season due to his hip injury, the season-opening tilt between the East’s two best teams still will be rife with intrigue.
LeBron James certainly will be motivated to prove Cleveland still is the team to beat in the East, while the Celtics will want to make a statement with their revamped roster led by Gordon Hayward and Irving.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
