J.R. Smith has been on various public adventures without a shirt. One came after the Cleveland Cavaliers won last season’s NBA championship, when the shooting guard rode down Carnegie Avenue shirtless, showing his layers of tattoos from waist to wrist. Smith being shirtless became such a ubiquitous concept that clever entrepreneurs created a shirt that makes its wearer look like a shirtless, tattoo-covered J.R. Smith.
Smith’s pectoral-exposing reputation even made it to the land’s highest office. The Cavaliers visited the White House on Thursday ahead of their Friday game against the Washington Wizards. President Obama pivoted and looked back to his left during the meeting to give a specific welcome to Smith’s shirt.
These are heady, and surprising, days for Cleveland. For so long an athletic have-not, the city has flipped to a sports power in the last six months. The Cavaliers won the NBA Finals after becoming the first team in league history to recover from a 3-1 deficit. The Indians made it to Game 7 of the World Series, losing to the Chicago Cubs, and, in a poke at Cleveland sports lore, lost a 3-1 lead along the way.
The Cavaliers’ rally, appearance that the 31-year-old James is as good as ever, and return of all crucial parts from last season’s title have placed them as the clear favorite in the Eastern Conference. Preseason assumptions that Cleveland will play Golden State for the third consecutive season in the NBA Finals were so strong, that they prompted caterwauling about the league being damaged by its high-end strength.
The Eastern Conference has lived the life of the downtrodden for several seasons while power was stacked in the West. The conference is improved this year — according to its participants, at least — and yet, Cleveland’s 6-1 start seems to only affirm it is the Cavaliers and everyone else. Other coaches in the conference are aware of the concept.
“I would put them as favorite, too,” Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “But, again, still have to play the games. There’s nothing guaranteed in this league. I’ve seen so many times teams upset teams or beat teams, don’t come together, whatever the reason. Again, they’re the favorite, but you still have to play the games.”
The Raptors gave Cleveland a push in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Their series was tied 2-2 before the Cavaliers pulled the Raptors apart in consecutive blowouts to advance to the Finals.
Two years ago, the Atlanta Hawks attempted to tussle with Cleveland in the conference finals. Atlanta led the East with 60 wins. It narrowly made it past the Wizards in the conference semifinals to face James and company. The Hawks were swept by Cleveland, setting up the first of back-to-back championship series between Golden State and the Cavaliers.
“I think we all feel like we have teams that can compete at a high level and nobody’s going to give anybody anything,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Whether it’s at the bottom, who’s the eighth team, the first, who’s in and out of the playoffs. I think the teams that haven’t been in the playoffs are better. I think you better be ready every night and hopefully avoid any poor stretches. I think the quality of the conference, you could find yourself not where you want to be at the end.”
Tuesday, the Hawks won in Cleveland, sending the first shot against thought Cleveland cannot be stopped. Atlanta backed that victory with a home win the next night against Chicago. It looks more like the 60-win team of two years ago than last season’s 48-win edition.
Where do the Wizards fit in this? Their only current relevance in this discussion comes from the schedule-makers. Friday night, 2-5 Washington hosts Cleveland, its second game in a stretch of three games in four nights. All-Star point guard John Wall may sit the game out. Following Wall’s two offseason knee surgeries, the team decided he would sit out one game when the schedule listed back-to-back tipoffs. Thursday, Wall wasn’t sure which day he would sit this weekend. Wizards coach Scott Brooks said he knew which game Wall would sit out, but would not make that public until Friday.
Wall was at risk of being suspended a game by the NBA after committing a flagrant-2 foul against the Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart on Wednesday night. Because of the foul, Wall was ejected for the second time in as many games this week. He apologized to his teammates in person, and to fans on social media.
“He definitely has to keep his composure,” Brooks said. “We need him on the floor. Not only John, we need all of our guys. Everybody has a job to do. Myself, the players, the officials, and we’re all going to try to do the best that we can. It’s better that he does handle himself in a better way. But, that’s behind him.”
Bradley Beal’s status for the game is also in question. The Wizards’ $128 million shooting guard left Wednesday night’s game because of right hamstring tightness. He had an MRI evaluation performed Thursday. The MRI showed no structural damage. Beal is “questionable” to play Friday.
None of this will bother the Cavaliers. They left the White House with another reminder they had finally pulled the unthinkable in Cleveland during the summer. They’re now expected to do it again, starting the countdown to yet another shirt removal by Smith.
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