CLEVELAND — While he won't win this season's MVP race, LeBron James remains as crucial to his team's success as perhaps any athlete on the planet.
That became brutally apparent Tuesday when the Cleveland Cavaliers, without James, blew a 20-point second-half lead en route to a 106-100 loss to the Houston Rockets.
This now becomes the Cavs' great balancing act. Grind out James, who's been to five straight NBA Finals, and the No. 1 seed in the East should be theirs for the taking. Rest his 31-year-old frame for another title run and risk playing a potential Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on the road.
Head coach Tyronn Lue has seemingly flipped back and forth between these two options, stating the importance of winning now while turning around and resting his star forward.
"I still want to win the first spot. I still want to be No. 1 in the East," said Lue after Tuesday's game, in which James sat (and coached) from the bench. "Knowing how we are, the season’s long, guys are banged up. Talking to the training staff, if guys need rest, we have to give it to them, ...
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Article written by Greg Swartz