LeBron James won’t play in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season finale Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors, according to cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon. James also sat out Monday’s game against the Heat.
Interestingly, Kyrie Irving may play Wednesday after sitting out Monday and it seems as if Kevin Love will play as well. The only Cavaliers who may not play are Tristan Thompson - who hopes to play Wednesday and is expected to after missing the team’s last four games - and rookie point guard Kay Felder, who hurt his ankle Monday in Miami.
It’s probably smart of the Cavs to get LeBron some rest. You could definitely argue that he should have rested more and played fewer minutes, but at least he’s getting some before the playoffs starts. If the Cavs start the playoffs on Sunday, for instance, James would get a full six days off.
This also could be another sign that the Cavs are ready to punt on getting the top seed in the East. Cleveland is currently a game behind the Celtics, meaning Boston would have to lose Wednesday against the Bucks with the Cavs winning against the Raptors in order for the Cavs to land the No. 1 seed in the East. Not that it really seems to matter to the Cavs.
The Cavs are 0-7 this year without LeBron and haven’t won a game without him since March 2016.