Skip Bayless: LeBron James, Cavs’ 114-91 Win Over Celtics ‘Doesn’t Matter,’ Team Isn’t ‘Back Yet’

Skip Bayless has some strong words about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 114-91 road victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, although he claims he is simply repeating what LeBron James told him.

Skip Bayless on LeBron James, Cavs: ‘They’re Not Back Yet’

On Thursday’s episode of Undisputed, Bayless said Cavs fans shouldn’t get too excited about Wednesday’s win because it’s not all that important, and cited James, nicknamed ‘The King,’ as a source, who said his team still needs to improve on several fronts.

“They are not back yet,” said Bayless. The King told me two days ago this didn’t matter at all. The King told me two days ago this didn’t matter at all. So I’m going to throw this result out. It didn’t even count. It didn’t matter. The Cavs are still struggling.”

Bayless’s statement is particularly meaningful because despite what he is suggesting, Cleveland appears to be doing rather well for itself this season and could make the playoffs. Although they recently went through a slump, the Cavaliers (51-27) have now won four straight games and are first in the Eastern Conference, just one game ahead of the second-place Celtics with four contests left in the regular season.

“I should have seen this coming,” Bayless added. “It was the classic trap game for the Boston Celtics in their building.”

Even Celtics coach Brad Stevens admitted the Cavs dominated his team, particularly in terms of speed, in nearly every category on Wednesday.

”I thought they were better, quicker to the ball, you name it — they were quicker in every category, and made it really tough on us,” said Stevens. “We didn’t match them.”

Here is what James said following Wednesday’s victory:

“Nah, it’s no statement game,” said the forward, who finished with 36 points ten rebounds and six assists. “Statement for ourselves because we need to continue to get better, and tonight we did that. You know, that’s all it’s about.

We don’t need to have a statement for anybody but ourselves, and tonight was good for our group.”

James continued: “I’m even-keeled about the process going down the final stretches of the season, so there’s no ceiling too high for us. We understand that and we want to continue to get better.”

Several people and outlets on social media also sardonically pointed out the fact that it was nice to see the Cavaliers playing strong defense, unlike in some of their recent games:

Cleveland’s defensive improvement was particularly surprising given the absence of starting center Tristan Thompson, who will also miss Friday’s home game against Atlanta (at least) with a sprained right thumb.

The Cavs led the Celtics by as much as 29 points in the third quarter on Wednesday, and also out-rebounded Boston 51-38. James got a huge two-handed block on Marcus Smart in the second quarter. Kyrie Irving added 19 points and five assists for Cleveland, and Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 26 points.

The Hawks next host the Celtics on Thursday night before traveling to Cleveland on Friday.

CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 08: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots the ball during the second half against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.