What if the Underdog Won: 2018
This one was a tough choice for me, as the way I see it there were two true underdogs throughout the entirety of the playoffs. The first the Indiana Pacers. A squad with breakout star Victor Oladipo, young big men like Turner and Sabonis, as well as an energetic Lance Stephenson. The second was the Boston Celtics who, although a two seed, were without arguably their two best players, and had a roster made up of a bunch of young guns and Al Horford. Since it’s too hard for me to pick just one, I’ve decided to talk a little about both of them.
First off we have the Indiana Pacers. Victor Oldadipo got traded from Oklahoma and finally had the opportunity to lead a team on his own. Boy did he do so. The Pacers outdid expectations and managed to get the five seed in the Eastern Conference, but unfortunately matched up with LeBron in the first round of the playoffs. It was one of the better series of the entire first round and playoffs in general. If it weren’t for some insane clutch shots from the King himself then the Pacers could have easily taken the series, which they took to seven games in real life. We saw Lace antics, Oladipo being clutch, and the birth of a potential new era in Indiana.
Now, if the Pacers actually managed to win this series, then the entire course of the 2018 postseason would have been changed. LeBron’s Finals streak would have been broken, and it would have been the first time he ever lost in the first round. They would have gone on to face the Raptors in the second round, and honestly, who’s to say they couldn’t have taken that series too. Having the insane momentum of beating one of the greatest of all time in round one could have helped a ton. Then, if they had won that series, they would have faced off against a super young Celtics team in the ECF. It’s not impossible that they could have managed to sneak their way into the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, I don’t see how they could have beaten the Warriors, but just making the Finals would have changed everything.
The Pacers could have attracted more talent to their team with a run like that in 2018. If they sign a couple more big name free agents, then Indiana is in the conversation for one of the best teams in the East. The Pacers team we know today is already a consistent playoff team, but with a Finals appearance on their resume, they could have been so much more.
Now, moving on to the more intriguing team out of the two, we have the Boston Celtics. As you all know I am a Celtics fan myself, so I’ll try to keep as much bias as I can out of this. The Celtics managed to take LeBron and the Cavs to seven games without Kyrie Irving on the team at all. If they had clamped up in the final minutes of game seven, then they easily could have won that game and advanced to the NBA Finals. This means that, like in the previous scenario, LeBron’s Finals streak would have ended, and the Warriors would have had a very different opponent in 2018.
Here comes the part where I’m called crazy. Outside of LeBron, the 2018 Celtics roster was much more talented than the 2018 Cavs roster. Yes, Cleveland had one of the best players in NBA history, but who else was there? Kevin Love was solid, but then their next best player was maybe Jeff Green? At least in game seven it was. Jordan Clarkson? George Hill? I don’t know, man, if you take the best player off of the Cavs in 2018, and the best player off of the Celtics in 2018 (Jayson Tatum in the playoffs) I don’t think the Cavs would do so hot.
All that being said, I think the 2018 Celtics would have matched up with the Warriors better than the 2018 Cavaliers did. You put Marcus Smart on Stephen Curry. Jaylen Brown can do all he can against Kevin Durant, or at least try to slow him down. Then you have Al Horford and Aron Baynes guarding the paint. It just seems like a more well put together matchup. I’m not saying they would have been able to win the series, but I think they could have at least taken a game or two. The only issue is, I don’t know if this changes history too much. Kyrie would still come back the next year, and most likely, contribute to the same issues that we saw in 2019. However, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown would both have Finals appearances on their resumes, which would give them that much more experience going forward. Assuming Kemba still takes Kyrie’s place in the 2020 season, then they would know how to handle the deepest playoff run possible. Not to mention it would have given Celtics fans their first taste of the Finals since 2010.
When taking all this into account, I think the 2018 Cavaliers were the best chance an Eastern Conference team had to take down a LeBron led team since his first stint with the Cavs. Luckily for LeBron’s legacy, and unfortunately for everyone else’s, this did not happen; and 2018 was the final year of the Cavaliers vs. Warriors stronghold on the league.
