As the Celtics and Magic fight it out while flying back and forth between Boston and Orlando, the Cavaliers are relaxing and watching intently from afar in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals by completing a sweep of the Hawks Monday night. They are 8-0 in the playoffs and have a lengthy rest before starting the conference finals against the winner of the Boston-Orlando series next Monday or Wednesday in Cleveland. Cavaliers star LeBron James believes his team will benefit from the layoff.
``The one thing about our team, we're very disciplined,'' said James, this year's NBA Most Valuable Player, to reporters in Atlanta after Game 4. ``We have a veteran ball club, and we're going to take advantage of the rest time we have because we can use it.
``It doesn't matter if you play four games, or five, six, or seven. It's wear and tear in the postseason. So we're going to take advantage of it, and we're looking forward to our next challenge.''
Said Cavs swingman Wally Szczerbiak, ``Now it's time to go get our rest and get ready for the next series. We have some bumps and bruises to heal from in this series. Coach [Mike Brown] did a good job getting us prepared for every game.''
Last season, much was made of the fact that Detroit advanced to the Eastern finals five days before Boston did. But on just one day of rest, the Celtics beat the Pistons in Boston in Game 1 and went on to win the series in six games. The difference this time is that the Boston-Orlando winner will begin the conference finals in Cleveland, where the Cavs are 43-2 this season.
Asked about the Cavaliers' layoff between series, Celtics center Kendrick Perkins said, ``That's good for them, but at the same time it can hurt you. The winner of this series could be playing real well and have momentum. It could hurt and help.''
Said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, ``I could care less about it. I just want to play them. Let them rest up. We'll be getting ready. That's the way I look at it.''
Time will tell whether Cleveland's rest ends up being a good or bad thing. But either way, the Celtics are impressed with how the Cavs are playing.
``They are playing well,'' Perkins said. ``They're playing like the best team in the league right now because of the MVP. His leadership is off the chain right now.''
``They've been great,'' said Rivers. ``They won back-to-back sweeps. That's impressive in any sport.''
Boston has lost seven straight at Cleveland, including playoffs, since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce to become ``The Big Three'' prior to the 2007-08 season. The defending champions, however, are 8-0 against Cleveland in Boston during the same span.
Orlando is 2-1 against the Cavs this season, with the loss in Cleveland.
James says he doesn't have a preference for playing Boston or Orlando.
``They're both experienced,'' he told TNT. ``You look at Orlando, they've got the big guy, Superman [Dwight Howard] in the middle and so many shooters. They're tough to guard sometimes. You have to close out to their shooters.
``And with Boston, they're just experienced. They are a championship team and they have a lot of things going.
``We look forward to meeting whomever. It will be a really good series.''
