Atat nang lumaban ang Cavaliers

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Hinahanap-ha-nap na ni Kyrie Irving ang mga aksyon sa NBA playoffs.

At hindi lamang ang All-Star point guard ang nakakaramdam nito.

“We’re itching to play,” sabi ni Irving sa Cleveland Cavaliers na hinintay pa ang resulta ng laban ng Washington Wi-zards at Boston Celtics sa Eastern Conference semifinals series.

Maagang nagpahinga ang Cleveland matapos walisin ang Toronto Raptors sa semifinals round.

Sa pagtapak ng Cavaliers sa sahig para sa Game One ng Eastern Conference finals nitong Miyerkules ay magmumula sila sa isang nine-day break na pinakamahabang pahinga ng koponan matapos silang dalhin ni LeBron James sa postseason noong 2006.

Hindi nagtakda si Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue ng scrimmage at nilimitahan ang kanilang workouts.

Ayon kay Irving, handang-handa na ang Cavaliers. “We’re not necessarily shooting the ball, we’re just running through plays, some guys get a little bit antsy and mad and they want to go to the basket and finish plays,” wika ni Irving.

“Just get everything firing again because you miss the contact, you miss getting hit and being able to be there for your teammate and get hype and go in transition. Just the little nuances that make this game so beautiful and competitive and you love it,” dagdag pa nito.

Ginagawa ni Lue ang lahat para panatilihin ang kanyang mga players sa focus sa kanilang mahabang pahinga.

Noong Sabado ay pi-nag-aralan ng tropa ang kanilang defensive rotations sa paghahanda laban sa Celtics na ipaparada sina high-scoring guards Isaiah Thomas at Avery Bradley.

“You got to keep them engaged and show them new things,” sabi ni Lue. “I’ve got to trick them at times, but they’ve been pretty locked in and we’ve just got to continue to do what we do. It is what it is, and we just got to continue to work on what we need to get better at and then whoever we play we just got to be ready.”