BOSTON -- The Cleveland Cavaliers obliterated the Boston Celtics 130-86 on Friday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, improving to 10-0 in the playoffs, and they look like they are on a totally different level than any team not named the Golden State Warriors. A day before this demolition, though, Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal said that he thought the Cavaliers "didn't want to see us."
Beal and the Wizards lost Game 7 of their second-round series against Celtics on Monday. As you can imagine, the Cavaliers didn't think highly of his comments. Cleveland forward Richard Jefferson called Washington a "very good team," but strongly said that he was out of line.
"It seems like the teams that are at home now want to start talking," Jefferson said. "Dion Waiters was saying that nobody wanted to see the Miami Heat, nobody wants to see the Miami Heat. Then Bradley Beal says nobody wants to [see the Wizards]. Well, if no one does, then show up. If you get there, then prove it.
"Bradley's a great young player, he's going to have a great career in front of him, but don't talk about teams that didn't want to see you when you're out of the playoffs. It makes absolutely no sense. A team that has now won 10 in a row in the playoffs, the defending champions, didn't want to see you, but you didn't get out of the second round? It makes headlines, but does it make sense? How does it make you come across when people want to talk about basketball IQ?"
In the regular season, Cleveland beat Washington two out of three times. One of those victories, however was a 140-135 overtime thriller that was one of the most compelling games of the year. The most recent meeting was a 127-115 Wizards win, so that memory might still be fresh in Beal's mind. These are only reasons for Washington to be confident, though, not necessarily reasons to express that confidence by implying that the Cavaliers were afraid of the matchup. Considering the circumstances, it probably would have wise to keep that belief private.
"He wouldn't say that before the series if he was going against Bron," Jefferson said. "He can say it now that he's out of harm's way."