In mid-December Cleveland went to Memphis for the 27th game of the season — without LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.

Part of giving LeBron, Love, and Kyrie the night off was to spare them, as one observer allowed, “the hassles of travel which even with luxury chartered planes, limo quality buses, and five-star hotels is a strain.” Officially, LeBron and Love were “rested” in Memphis while Irving was out due to “tired legs.”

The NBA keeps making noise about mitigating this escalating practice by “either next season or the one after” by having fewer back-to-back games. The plan is to begin the season sooner.

Note: There are 15 back-to-backs — not a single back-to-back-to-back — on the Cavs’ entire schedule.

Now, just for fun, gander at the 15 seasons Michael Jordan played in the league:

Nine times he played 82 games; one season he played 81, another 80 and one other 78. At age 40, in his final time around with the Washington club, he played in … all 82 games…