Game Theory

How weird would it have been if the Cavs simply rested LeBron and Dellavedova last night? I suppose this would never happen for fear of psychologically breaking your team, but from a strategic standpoint, I wonder if it would make sense. Think about it: the Cavs are overmatched. They stole games 1 and 3 by, hustle, strategy, and monster efforts by LeBron. They were clearly burned out last night and knew GSW would be playing for their lives. Imagine a Game 5 dynamic with a rested LeBron? I know it sounds absurd, but I think there are ways overmatched teams can compete more effectively in long series and also "mess" with their opponents.

For instance, in baseball, when facing a team with a dominant number 1 starter, I would consider staggering my pitching rotation like this:

Team A #1 vs. Team B #4
Team A #2 vs. Team B #1
Team A #3 vs. Team B #2
Team A #4 vs. Team B #3

And especially, if you had strong 1-3 pitchers. One could almost imagine designing a team with three #2 type of guys rather than a 1, 2, and 3.