Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James could miss the team’s next two games, both against the Boston Celtics, in a bid to rest ahead of the playoffs.
READ MORE:
LeBron would vote for himself as MVP: Cavs star wasn’t even joking.
Noah would love to face LeBron in playoffs: Bulls centre wants to play the best.
LeBron puts up triple-double in win over Bulls: (Video) James in top form against rivals.
The Cavs clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference earlier this week after improving to 51-27 for the season and opened up a significant gap between themselves and the third-placed Chicago Bulls.
As a result, with little to play for in the remaining four games of the season, reports claim that James is pushing to be rested in back-to-back encounters with the Celtics and it isn’t the first time he has discussed it this season.
The two-time NBA champion spoke earlier in the year about wanting to be rested and to be healthy prior to the playoffs starting as he was initially playing a team-high in minutes before his two-week break to recover from back and knee strains.
While it is unclear as to whether or not coach David Blatt will sign off on the request, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has reported that James would like to be rested for the next two games and it would make sense ahead of what will undoubtedly be a gruelling post-season campaign.
If it does happen, then Boston would undoubtedly be getting a significant boost to their playoffs chances as the Cavs are 2-9 without their star man this season and the Celtics need every win they can get at this stage.
It still wouldn’t be an easy task if the likes of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love play, but it would certainly do them no harm as they look to build on their 36-42 record so far this season.
Brad Stevens’ men currently sit in seventh spot in the East, but they are just a game ahead of the Indiana Pacers and a game-and-a-half above the Miami Heat.
COMMENTS