Cavs’ Season Ends, Let The Speculation Begin

What seemed inevitable after Donovan Mitchell injured his calf during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal became a reality last night, as the Celtics wrapped up the series in five games with a 113-98 win.

Jarrett Allen didn’t play at all in the series because of a rib injury, and down two starters, they simply didn’t have enough scoring or depth to be able to compete with the team who had the best regular season in the NBA.

Outside of the Game 2 eruption of 118 points, the most points the Cavs scored in the series was 102 in the Game 4 defeat. And when your opponent regularly hits triple digits, it makes it very difficult to win.

Credit J.B. Bickerstaff for having his depleted crew, and they didn’t have Caris LeVert yesterday, play very hard and made both games without Mitchell competitive. The wine and gold didn’t roll over, they made Boston work to win the series.

Tremendous efforts by Evan Mobley and veteran Marcus Morris, particularly in the second half, kept the series winning contest close. Mobley scored 33 points, 25 of them after halftime, while Morris, picked up after being bought out, scored 25 points in total, making five of six three-point shots. That pair scored 36 of the team’s 46 tallies after the half.

The use of Morris in the playoffs was very puzzling because when he was used, he usually did very well. Yet, he received a DNP-CD in Game 4, a crucial game especially because it was home.

Now the speculation on the future of the franchise will begin. Will Bickerstaff return? We have been critical of the coach the past two seasons, but to be honest, we can’t lay this series loss just on him.

Will Koby Altman stay on as Vice President of Basketball Operations? Let’s face it, this roster was poorly constructed to win in the playoffs, they simply aren’t big enough. They start two short guards, two big men, and don’t have an upper echelon player in the 6’7″ to 6’9″ range.

At the very least, the Cavs need to bring in someone from outside to evaluate the current roster. Altman seems to overlook the weaknesses of players he brought in.

None of the basketball people we know understand the love affair with Dean Wade. He’s a pretty good defender, but crazy inconsistent. He simply doesn’t play well in enough games to justify the faith in him.

The Cavaliers don’t have enough “guys who can play”, meaning players who have a diverse skill set. They have way too many one-dimensional talents.

Isaac Okoro is a defender, but other teams don’t feel the need to guard him. Sam Merrill is a shooter. Tristan Thompson can rebound, but you don’t want the ball in his hands offensively. Georges Niang is a three-point specialist.

And beyond Mobley and Allen, there really is no size on the roster. The Cavs signed Damian Jones in the off-season, but he rarely saw action.

More versatility is needed going forward. Max Strus isn’t the three-point shooter the Cavs thought they were getting (they could have looked at his stats), but he’s a decent passer and rebounder for his size. But his size says he should be playing guard.

The biggest question though is Mitchell. Will he sign an extension or not? If he does, the logical move would be to trade Darius Garland, as it is pretty obvious the two do not mesh well.

We’ve heard folks say Garland still has a good reputation in the league, so he could be the bait to bring in more size.

As for the debate as to whether or not Mobley and Allen can play together? We would like to see a different perspective from another coach before determining it can’t work.

The Cavs did indeed make progress from a year ago, winning a post-season series, but the organization seems to put limits on itself. They were one of the final eight teams playing this season. To virtually stand pat again would be a waste of this opportunity.

They did that last year. They can’t afford to do it again.

On To Round Two And Boston For Cavs

Well, they did it. The Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 106-94 win over the Orlando Magic. And they overcame an 18-point first half deficit to do it.

Early on, the Cavs couldn’t make a shot on offense and defensively couldn’t stop Paolo Banchero, who had 24 points in the first half.

The game may have turned oddly enough when Max Strus and Darius Garland, who were a combined 1 for 8 from the floor, missing all five of their three-point shots, both had to leave the game in foul trouble.

J.B. Bickerstaff went to Caris LeVert, who he benched in the second half of Game 6, and Sam Merrill, who hadn’t been playing much at all, probably because it was all he had.

LeVert hit 4 of 6 shots and Merrill hit two threes and two free throws the remainder of the half and Cleveland trimmed the lead to a more manageable 10 points at the half.

In the second half, Donovan Mitchell took over, scoring 24 points on 8 of 14 shooting, Strus got it going, knocking down 3 out of 4 from long range, and Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro played tremendous defense.

Mobley was a force inside, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking five shots in addition to 11 points. Okoro forced Banchero into a 4 for 15 half from the field, putting the young Magic all-star into check.

In the end though, it was Mitchell. He scored 39 points in all and attacked from the opening tip off, getting to the line 17 times, making 15. He kind of willed the Cavs to victory.

So now it is the #1 seed in the East, the Boston Celtics, who had the NBA’s best record in the regular season going 64-18. They ranked first in the league in offensive rating and third in defensive rating.

And they have stars on top of stars: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and one of the league’s unsung very good players in Derrick White.

However, Porzingis is currently on the shelf with a calf injury, so actually from a size standpoint, the Celts are a much better matchup for Cleveland. Beyond him, the Celtics have only one player who gets more than 20 minutes per night and is 6’9″ or more in Al Horford.

Boston loves the three-point shot, leading the league in attempts and makes, and second in percentage. Their flaw has been when they aren’t going in, they just keep taking them.

The biggest thing though for the Cavs is they have to get offensive production out of someone besides Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, if he can get healthy.

This means Darius Garland simply must play better. Garland hit a three in the fourth quarter and the whole team seemed to celebrate because he’s struggled that much.

Actually, he did shoot well in the series, it was everything else that was awful. He seemed to be very shaky with the ball in his hands and defensively is a problem as well. If he can move the ball (meaning he stops dribbling the air out of the ball) and hit shots, he can be a big asset.

We would also like Bickerstaff to reset. Go back to playing Georges Niang at least to start the series, and we would still go 10 deep, giving time for Sam Merrill, Marcus Morris, and Tristan Thompson.

It’s a new series. We don’t think the Cavs can win; it will be more about how competitive they can play in the series to determine how the team should be reshaped this summer.

Game 7 Today. Which Cavs Will Show Up?

After the Cavaliers won the first two games of their first round series against Orlando, some fans and media members alike got overly excited and were thinking about a series sweep.

We thought that was incredibly misguided and obviously they didn’t spend too much time watching the Orlando Magic. Today, the series will be decided with a Game 7 matchup.

After a closely contested first half which saw the Cavs trailing by four, the wine and gold came out with a 13-0 run to take a nine point lead and it looked good for Cleveland to advance. They led by five after three quarters.

But the Magic outscored the Cavs 30-18 in the fourth and both teams are heading back to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Donovan Mitchell had a tremendous game, scoring 50 points on 22 of 36 shooting. The shot total might seem high if you didn’t watch the game, but frankly no one else could put the ball in the basket. Literally.

As we said, Cleveland had 18 points in the final quarter. Mitchell scored every single one of them. No one else seemed to want to shoot. The all-star took 13 of the 19 shots. Evan Mobley missed three shots, Darius Garland one, Marcus Morris one, and Georges Niang one.

Late in the fourth quarter, a graphic showed Mitchell had 47 points and we were surprised. We didn’t think he had than many. We knew he was scoring at will in the paint, but we didn’t think he was “hogging” the basketball.

It was a strange game right from the start. J.B. Bickerstaff started Morris, who didn’t play outside of garbage time in any of the first four contests. Yes, Morris deserved playing time after his performance in game five, but start?

Why move away from what worked in the game five win.

Then Caris LeVert, who played almost 29 minutes per night in the regular season, and has been the first man off the bench in the series, played seven minutes in the first half, missed one shot, scored one point, had two steals and two turnovers, and was a -1, didn’t get in the game in the second half.

Don’t understand running away from one of your primary players in a close game.

Niang, who didn’t play in Game 5 (we didn’t understand that either), reappeared in Game 6, and did hit a three, his only field goal make, but didn’t get a rebound.

Cleveland was dominated on the boards again, 48-38, familiar because that’s what happened a year ago.

Of course, the Cavaliers’ best player in the series, Jarrett Allen, missed his second game with a rib injury. Since he’s averaged almost 14 boards per game in the series, he would’ve made a difference.

Will he be back for Game 7? Your guess is as good as ours.

Garland seemed to overly defer to Mitchell in the fourth, taking just one shot. He’s clearly been the best long range shooter for the Cavs in the series, yet took just four threes, making one.

With Allen out, Cleveland desperately needed another scorer and Garland had 21 for the game, but of course, none in the last quarter. And there was no third scorer as the next best point total was Max Strus with 10.

Orlando had three, with as usual, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner leading the way with 27 and 26 respectively, but Jalen Suggs contributed 22 points.

What will happen today? Are the Cavs mentally tough enough to handle a winner take all contest? Will Allen play? Can someone step up and provide offense besides Mitchell and Garland?

Remember, under Bickerstaff, the Cavs have had two such games. In Game 5 last year vs. New York, at home, the wine and gold trailed by 10 at the half and lost by 11.

The previous season in the “play in tournament”, also at home, the Cavaliers led by 10 at the half, but were blitzed in the second half by Atlanta, getting outscored 56-40 with Trae Young lighting the Cavs up for 32 second half points.

History doesn’t paint a kind picture. But there is a reason they still play the game.

Can Unpredictable Cavs Finish It Friday?

For a team that made the play-in tournament and lost in five games to New York a year ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers certainly don’t act like a team that has been involved in post-season basketball for the third consecutive season.

You would think they would be passed the whole “play well at home, play terrible on the road”, but they gutted out a 104-103 Game 5 win over Orlando Tuesday night to take a 3-2 series lead. It was a gutty performance because Jarrett Allen, who may have been Cleveland’s best player in the series, missed the game with a rib injury.

Many of the players who haven’t played in the series to that point came through big time for the wine and gold. The much-maligned Darius Garland got Cleveland off to a great start with 17 first quarter points, winding up with 23 on 9 of 16 shooting, including 3 of 5 from deep.

Garland remains the Cavs’ most reliable long-range shooter in the series, hitting 44.4% (12 of 27).

Max Strus, who together with Georges Niang combined to make just 4 of 28 threes in the series, missed three more in the first half, then came back to knock down 4 of 7 in the second half, scoring 16 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out five assists, including a huge find to Evan Mobley late in the game resulting in a dunk.

And Marcus Morris, conspicuous by his absence in meaningful minutes in the series, made a huge contribution with 12 points, including two big threes in the fourth quarter.

The weird part about Morris is after not playing other than in blowout situations, he would up playing the most minutes of any reserve on J.B. Bickerstaff’s bench.

But perhaps the biggest hero was Mobley, who scored two big hoops in the closing minutes and then made the defensive play of the series so far with a block on Franz Wagner’s drive in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Playing without Allen, Mobley was really Cleveland’s only big (why? Ask Koby Altman) and had 14 points and 13 boards on 7 of 11 shooting. Tristan Thompson did play eight minutes, most of them in the first half.

The Cavs should be at the point where they should be tough enough to go into Orlando on Friday night and win on the road, but after Games 3 and 4, it would seem to be a tough ask. Hopefully, Allen will be back for Game 6.

Georges Niang didn’t play Tuesday night, and we hope Bickerstaff goes back to him going forward. We would have put him out there in the first half of Game 5 to see if he could knock down a shot or two before taking him out. To just not play him? That seems a bit harsh.

The best thing the Cavs did in the victory was take care of the ball. After turning it over an average of 15 times per game in the series, they only had 10 on Tuesday.

And the shooting still needs to pick up. Garland has shot well from outside, but the Cavs are still making just 29% from three in the series. Donovan Mitchell is just 8 for 35 (22.9%).

The best path to victory on the road might be for Mitchell to have a huge night, getting it going from outside.

At this point, the Cavaliers only need to get one more win to advance to the second round.

Based on the way the series has been played in Florida, they have to improve greatly to end this series before a win or take all Game 7.

Cavs’ Second Best Player? It’s Jarrett Allen

Quite frankly, we anticipated a tighter first round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic, and perhaps now that the series moves to Florida, we may get it.

The Magic have had problems getting any offense outside of their two forwards, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. That pair is scoring 40.5 points per game, while their next three scorers, Jalen Suggs, Mo Wagner, and Gary Harris are combining for just 29 points per game combined.

Meanwhile, the Cavs’ top four scorers, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Darius Garland have scored 73.5 points per night. Cleveland is getting production from several spots, making them harder to defend.

We made the comment on social media last month that while all the talk regarding the Cavs surrounds the backcourt of Mitchell and Garland, no one has noticed that Allen has become their second best player.

Last year, Allen was much maligned during and after the first round loss to the Knicks, although some of his problems weren’t his fault. New York gathered a ton of offensive rebounds because the big man was helping on penetration by the Knicks’ guards and thus was out of position to grab boards.

Offensively, he was only getting seven shots per game and for the series averaged 9.4 points and just 7.4 rebounds per game, well off the 9.8 he grabbed during the regular season.

This year, Allen added range to his shot, taking more shots in the three to ten foot range and still knocked down 63% of his field goal attempts. He also became more of a playmaker, adding an assist per game to his stats.

His performance this series reinforces our comment that Allen is indeed the second best player wearing the wine and gold. He has been a force in the first two games of the series, scoring 16 points and grabbing 19 caroms in Cleveland, and been a force defensively.

His passing has translated as well, with five assists in the series, tied for third with Max Strus.

The injuries to Mobley and Garland have allowed Allen to blossom as a scorer and passer. He did score 16.1 points a game before Mitchell arrived last season but dropped to 14.3 last year as he was regarded more as a fourth option. Heck, he was fifth in field goal attempts behind 6th man Caris LeVert.

He was still fifth this season, but with Garland missing 25 games, Mobley out for 32 contests, and even Mitchell did not play in 27 games, Allen became more important, especially because he was available, playing 77 games, second to Georges Niang.

No doubt that contributed to Allen’s career high 16.5 scoring average and 819 field goal attempts. We always wondered why the Cavs didn’t get Allen the ball more often because for his career, he has made 63% of his shots.

We understand his range isn’t the same as Mitchell or Garland, but he was still 4th in field goal percentage in the league this year, and was 5th a year ago, and 2nd in 2021-22. When he gets the ball close to the basket, chances are, he will score.

The people who wanted Allen traded a year ago got it wrong. He may not be a three-point threat, but he’s a defensive force who can put the ball in the basket. He’s showing in this series that he’s a winning player too.

Cavs Can Move On, But It Won’t Be Easy

This Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers will open the NBA playoffs against the team they wanted to play apparently, the Orlando Magic. Before we talk about this series, let’s cover what happened in the season finale against Charlotte.

For us, tanking the fourth quarter to manipulate who you play in the first round is the sign of an organization that doesn’t believe in itself. Perhaps you don’t agree, but we will say the players didn’t like the move, although Max Strus was the only one who said so publicly.

And remember where Strus came from. He played for Miami, an organization that is famous for not caring who they play, they feel they can and will win. Yes, the Heat view the regular season differently, but that’s because they have the belief they can overcome any obstacle.

The curious thing about the decision is getting into the Celtics’ side of the bracket. Boston is the best team of the NBA, meaning the Cavs time in the playoffs could be limited to a first round win.

But it will not be easy. Orlando is second in the league in defensive efficiency, and they will have a size advantage, particularly at guard and small forward. Cleveland ranks sixth in defense, but over the last month, that side of the ball seems to have dropped off for the wine and gold.

One problem we see playing a good defensive team is getting into situations where you can get good shots, and that hasn’t been a strength of J. B. Bickerstaff. The coach likes to default to the pick and roll in so many situations, and good defensive teams tend to take that away.

There is a narrative out there that this series will be a referendum on Donovan Mitchell, and can he be the best player on a team that goes deep into the playoffs. We don’t think Mitchell was the reason Cleveland lost a year ago. He averaged 23.2 points and 7.2 assists vs. New York. He didn’t shoot well from long distance, just 29%, but as a team, the Cavs shot a better percentage than New York.

Mitchell’s biggest issue was no one else helped. Both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen averaged less than 10 points per game, and Darius Garland dished out 5 assists per game, but also had 3.6 turnovers.

We would also like to see the coach use Sam Merrill and Marcus Morris in the series. We know he likes to use eight, but he should try to use 10.

Orlando isn’t a good three-point shooting team, ranking second last in attempts (FYI, Denver is last) and 7th worst in percentage made. However, they make 55% of their shots inside the arc, and surprisingly, take the most free throws in the league.

Unlike Cleveland, whose primary scorers are in the backcourt, Orlando’s two best scorers are a pair of 6’10” forwards, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Jalen Suggs, a 6’5″ point guard and Cole Anthony are their next two scorers.

Suggs along with veteran Joe Ingles, a former teammate of Mitchell and Georges Niang in Utah, are the Magic’s best threats from long distance.

It will be interesting to see how Bickerstaff aligns the defense, particularly in key moments. Will he put Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on Banchero and Wagner?

The “x-factor” for the Magic is defensive stalwart Jonathan Isaac, who is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Isaac was sidelined for most of three seasons (2020-21 through 2022-23), playing just 11 games in those years, but played in 58 games this year, and after the all-star break, averaged 7.9 points and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes.

He also made 24 of 48 threes in that span, shooting 56.8% from the floor overall. He can be a handful.

Can the Cavs win the series? Definitely, they have the home court and the playoff experience edge. However, it won’t be easy. The Magic are athletic and long, and no doubt hungry.

Cleveland wanted Orlando. Beating them may not be as easy as they thought it would be when they “arranged” the match up.

Some Good, Some Bad As Cavs Head To The Playoffs

Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers survived the slog they have been plowing through since the All-Star break and will have home court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The next challenge will be to win a series, maybe two, and get on a run in the post-season.

The Cavs’ first round opponent is not determined as of yet because as of this morning, Orlando, Indiana, and Philadelphia are all tied for fifth in the conference standings, and actually, J.B. Bickerstaff’s crew could wind up in the #2 spot in the East as they sit just a game behind Milwaukee and New York in the standings.

However, Donovan Mitchell will not play today and Darius Garland may not as well. We will see who Charlotte plays, but it looks like it will be kind of like a scrimmage today for the Cavs.

Even though the wine and gold have won the last two games at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse after a disastrous west coast trip, we still aren’t confident in their chances when the playoffs start next weekend.

Wednesday night, we get it. After losing three in a row, it is tough to get back into the win column, and the Cavs were very sluggish against a Memphis team that was kind of using a “G League” roster.

And in Friday’s win, which should have been treated as a playoff game against Indiana, because had Cleveland lost, they would likely not have home court advantage, the Cavs blew a big first half lead, before holding on to win.

THE GOOD THINGS WE SAW

Mitchell is looking healthier. He scored 62 points in the two games, shooting 45% from three point range, and dished out 13 assists.

Evan Mobley looked active. Against Memphis, he was deflecting passes and blocking shots, getting 12 points and 12 rebounds. Friday, he was plaqued with foul trouble, but made 6 of 7 shots, although he did take an ill-advised three late in the game.

Caris LeVert continues to be unsung and really, underappreciated. The Cavs finally seized control of the game when LeVert arrived in the third quarter. He was +13 in that quarter alone. And against Indiana, he scored 16 points, grabbed six boards and dished out five assists.

TROUBLESOME STUFF

In the playoffs, each possession has added importance, and that’s what continues to concern us about Darius Garland. Somehow in Wednesday’s win, he was only charged with three turnovers, watching the game, we would have figured double that number, and against the Pacers, he did make several huge threes down the stretch, but we hold our breath when he has the ball and is pressured defensively.

If Garland is having problems with this in the playoffs, will the coach cut back his minutes? As we all know, the playoffs are a different game.

We understand Bickerstaff doesn’t like playing a lot of guys, and we also know Sam Merrill is banged up right now. However, we also feel in the playoffs, you need players who have been there.

Marcus Morris didn’t play in either of the two games and has been seemingly out of the rotation since the win over Utah. Tristan Thompson has barely played in the last 10 games.

We think the Cavs are going to need them in the post-season. Remember last year, when Danny Green was needed after only playing three games in the regular season due to injury?

Let’s hope Bickerstaff opens his mind to playing more guys in the post-season. If someone like Georges Niang (although we think he will be fine in the playoffs) is struggling, you have to try someone else.

There is a fine line between confidence someone will do the job and it becoming a problem for the good of the team.

As everyone found out last season, the NBA playoffs are different.

Cavs Malaise Continuing.

The Cavs last trip of the season didn’t get off to a good start as they were hammered by the defending champion Denver Nuggets. The rest of the week have them playing Utah, Phoenix, and both Los Angeles teams, and only the first of those opponents will not be playing when the regular season ends.

On February 10th, the wine and gold won their ninth consecutive game, raising their record to 35-16 when they beat Toronto by 20 points.

Since then, they have a 10-14 record, which should be concerning for a team that hopes to advance in the playoffs. True, they have had a bunch of injuries, most notably to the team’s best player, Donovan Mitchell, who missed 15 of those games with a variety of issues: illness, knee problems, and a broken nose.

In the games Mitchell has played, the Cavs are only 5-4, well off their previous pace.

We understand that evaluating a team when they are in a downturn is dangerous. The same is true when a team is on a hot streak, which Cleveland was when the trading deadline arrived.

Koby Altman looked at a red hot team and stood pat, which we said at the time was the wrong move. The Celtics had the best record in the NBA and went out and got Xavier Tillman from Memphis in a deal.

They added another big, Tillman is 6’8″ and he’s played in 13 games for the Celtics, getting 3.3 points and 3.1 boards in almost 15 minutes of playing time nightly.

To be fair, Altman did sign Marcus Morris, a 6’8″ wing for the rest of the season and certainly the Cavs can use a wing with that kind of size.

Right now if the season ended, the Cavs would take on Indiana in the first round of the playoffs. Cleveland would have the experience factor, making the post-season the past two years (if you count the “play-in” round), while the Pacers haven’t made it the 2019-20 season.

Indiana is long and athletic, which has given the Cavs problems.

The other teams which could be first round opponents are Miami, currently 7th and Philadelphia (8th, but probably with Joel Embiid back).

In the 4th and 5th spots are New York, just a half game behind the Cavaliers and Orlando, just 1.5 games behind Cleveland.

Quite frankly, we don’t feel good about either of those matchups right now. New York because of their physicality and Orlando is very similar to the Pacers in terms of size, but also inexperience.

For Bickerstaff’s squad, it’s not just a matter of wins and losses either. They simply aren’t playing well. Darius Garland is supposed to be one of the team’s foundation pieces, but he hasn’t played well since he returned from his broken jaw.

The Cavs have also missed versatile offensive threat Max Strus, who besides averaging in double figures also is four on the team in assists and rebounding. Strus hasn’t shot the three as well as he has in the past, but no doubt the team missed him while he was out.

Mitchell himself said it after Sunday’s loss. It’s April and the Cavs have to get things figured out soon, because the playoffs are about three weeks away.

Another first round loss could mean a lot of things for the Cavaliers.

Time For Cavs To Have Accountability

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ weird season continues. They have struggled since the All-Star break, but still are in third place in the Eastern Conference, and amazingly are just a game and a half behind the second place Milwaukee Bucks.

Of course, they are also just a half game ahead of fourth place New York, while Orlando has slid to two and a half games behind Cleveland.

Still, that doesn’t make Wednesday loss on the road to a terrible Charlotte team any more palatable, and it doesn’t exactly give fans a warm and fuzzy feeling with the playoffs just a couple of weeks away.

J.B. Bickerstaff has always talked about the Cavs being defensive minded, but the lowly Hornets blistered Cleveland, particularly from inside the three-point line, where they made 31 of 43 shots, a 72% clip.

The thing that came up again to fans and media alike is this word, “toughness”. Or the lack of it from the wine and gold.

When the Cavaliers win, they always talk about togetherness, having fun, and sharing. They also like to refer to themselves as a young team. That’s getting old (no pun intended).

Evan Mobley is 22, but he’s been in the NBA for three seasons. Isaac Okoro is 23, but this is his fourth year. Darius Garland is 24, but in his fifth NBA campaign.

And those are the only guys under 25 getting regular playing time.

Jarrett Allen is 25, Dean Wade, Max Strus, Donovan Mitchell, and Sam Merrill are 27 years old. The young team excuse should be off the table and the coaching staff and organization should stop coddling them.

It’s time for Bickerstaff to stop calling timeout every time the opponent scores three baskets in a row. When Phil Jackson coached, he was famous for not calling timeouts, instead giving his players instructions to figure it out themselves. That’s how you build toughness and accountability.

In that game, Garland, who we have criticized for being careless with the ball, turned it over three times in the first five minutes. Why not take him out of the game after that? Hate to sound like a parent, but there are consequences for actions.

And Marcus Morris, who received the Cavs’ chain for his tough play in Monday’s win, didn’t even get off the bench for the loss on Wednesday. That’s how being tough and physical is awarded in the organization?

It’s long since the time to take the “training wheels” off for this group. They are old enough and been around long enough for the organization to be looking for accountability from this squad.

Perhaps there is a different message in the locker room and at practice. Publicly, it’s beginning to sound like rhetoric.

We’ve said it earlier this season, but the regular season isn’t how the Cavaliers are going to be judged, but it is important to get home court advantage for as many rounds as possible. That’s because this group hasn’t had any playoff success.

The Miami Heat should be the model used for being tough, and it’s not weakness to point to another organization as a guide.

How often do you think Erik Spoelstra talks about having fun?

Cavs Need To Get Healthy And Right The Ship. Quickly

The last month for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been a conundrum. They’ve been missing several key players, including their best, Donovan Mitchell, who has played in just five of the 17 games following the All-Star break.

Evan Mobley and Max Strus are two other starters who have not been available for the bulk of the second half schedule because of injuries.

In that time period, Cleveland has defeated the league’s best team, Boston, the third seed in the West, Minnesota, and had impressive road wins against New Orleans and Indiana.

But they’ve also lost home games to a battered Miami Heat team and Brooklyn.

There are only 12 games remaining in the regular season, and the wine and gold have a west coast trip before the season comes to a close. And they are in real danger of losing home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, as both the Knicks and Magic are just one game behind in the loss column.

What all this means is coach J.B. Bickerstaff needs to find a winning formula and quickly. Yes, the Cavs have a very good record on the road at 21-13, but we don’t think they want to have their first-round playoff match up without the majority of the games at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

First and foremost, they need to get Mitchell healthy. He is their unquestioned leader, and when Darius Garland and Mobley were injured in December and each missed about a month, the ball was put in his hands and he thrived.

Averaging 27.4 points and 6.1 assists per night, along with five rebounds, his ability to score inside, driving to the bucket is sorely missed. And remember, he’s still shooting 37.3% from behind the arc.

Jarrett Allen has held his own, scoring 16.3 points and grabbing 10.8 boards on a nightly basis, as well as being a solid defender, and Caris LeVert has stepped up his game too.

LeVert gets criticized by many of the younger fans because he doesn’t make threes (which is really a stupid criticism) has also stepped up particularly the play making that Mitchell provided. He is dishing out 7.9 assists since the All-Star game, although his scoring and shooting is down.

To us, he has sacrificed his scoring to do what is best for the team, and perhaps that is the first step for many of the other Cavs in order to right the ship.

Cleveland did sign veteran Marcus Morris Jr. to a ten day contract, and at 6’8″, Morris provides some size in the front court and he can knock down shots.

Bickerstaff isn’t blameless either. We do believe he made the decision to have LeVert handle the playmaking duties over the turnover prone Garland, but we don’t understand his substitution patterns at times.

He went through a stretch where he ignored Sam Merrill, who despite a slump in early March where he hit just 4 of 29 threes, has knocked down 17 of his last 37 (46%). Friday night, he didn’t use Craig Porter Jr., even though Garland wasn’t playing particularly well.

And he played a sore kneed Mitchell 44 minutes in an overtime, and that’s when Mitchell went back out of the lineup.

We hate to say it, but how the Cavaliers perform from here on out and during the playoffs will likely determine if Bickerstaff returns as head coach next season.

Also, we also believe if Mitchell signs an extension with the Cavs, a roster shake up will occur, and Garland will likely be traded.

The Cavs do need toughness, but part of that starts with adding size, something outside of Allen and Mobley, the wine and gold desperately need.