LeBron James, Kyrie Irving resting a day after Cavs’ historic collapse
If the Cleveland Cavaliers blowing a 26-point fourth-quarter leader is bothering the defending champs, they don’t appeared to be showing it. A day after becoming the third team in NBA history to lose after holding that large of a lead in the final quarter, the Cavs announced that LeBron James (calf) and Kyrie Irving (knee) will not play and Kevin Love (illness) is questionable for Monday’s game against the Miami Heat.
Cleveland’s loss – its second to the Atlanta Hawks in a 48-hour span – dropped the Cavs into a tie with the Boston Celtics for the No. 1 seed in the East with two games to go. Cleveland's decision to rest James, Irving and possibly Love comes against a Heat team fighting for its playoff life – Miami is tied with the Bulls for the eighth spot in the East.
The Cavs enter their final two games before the playoffs scuffling, having gone 5-5 in the past 10 games, but it sounds like Cleveland is valuing health over chemistry as the regular season winds down. James played 47 minutes while Irving registered 45 minutes in Sunday's overtime loss, in which LeBron fouled out for only the sixth time in his career.
"The last 10 games, we're 5-5," James told reporters after the loss at Atlanta. "We've had some good moments and some not-so-good moments. The main thing is we want to be healthy."
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Love will play Monday, adding that the Cavs are "coming out with the intention of winning tonight."
