That old saying that you can rest when you’re dead is mostly counterproductive. The body needs it. But, for world class athletes, there is truth in the old adage of ‘too much of a good thing.’ We saw that yesterday in Boston. It wasn’t just that the Cavaliers were outperformed or outcoached, but that they were outclassed and out-efforted. Terry Pluto from cleveland.com showed little restraint is his assessment of the performance. The Celtics won’t relent in their effort or physicality. Will the Cavs be ready tomorrow night? Lebron seems to think so. But, anyone in Cleveland or those NBA talking heads who thought the sweep of Toronto was simply a prelude to Cavs-Warriors IV, better accept that there’s a reason the Celtics are in the Eastern Conference Finals, and it’s more than just spectactular coaching. Pride and perseverance won’t disappear overnight. If at all, in this series.

One cautionary observation: if we can’t beat the Celtics in a 7-game series without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward playing for them, what does that say about our chances against them next year? And, for us Clevelanders, what does that say about our chances of Lebron coming back?