Cavs Need Another Big Effort Tonight.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were looking at their season Friday night. They lost the first two games of their best-of-seven series against the Indiana Pacers at home, and of course, in the history of the NBA, no team has come back from down 0-3.

Darius Garland didn’t play in the first two games, and both Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter sat out game two with injuries. All three played with the wine and gold’s season on the line.

The result was a 126-104 win in Indianapolis to cut the series lead to 2-1 for the Pacers. Mobley had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Hunter scored 8 and had 5 boards, while Garland scored 10 points and dished out 3 assists. It was enough to support the incomparable Donovan Mitchell, who poured in more than 40 points for the second straight game.

Hopefully, the trio will be available for the rest of the series, because as we thought going into the Eastern Conference semis, this is going to be a tough series against a quality team.

Mitchell is averaging 41.3 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the series, and Jarrett Allen and Max Strus have been very good, but no doubt, Kenny Atkinson needs his full complement of players going forward, especially because some of his bench guys haven’t played up to their regular season standards.

While we aren’t shocked that Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro haven’t produced, outside of good defense, Ty Jerome’s struggles are a bit puzzling.

Wade has played 60 minutes in the three games and has taken just 8 shots, making just one. To put that in perspective, the Pacers’ Jarace Walker has played 17 minutes and hoisted six shots.

We get Wade is out there for defense and rebounding (he is 5th on the team in the series with 17 caroms), but this is basketball. You have to be a threat on both sides of the court.

As for Okoro, he has played 48 minutes and taken seven shots, making two, and is 0 for 3 from beyond the arc, meaning if the offense is going to put him outside, the Pacers aren’t going to guard him.

Jerome needs a good game in the worst way. During the regular season, we saw many games where he had an impact despite not scoring. In the three games thus far, he is just 10 for 42 from the floor and has made only one of 12 three-point shots.

And as a team the long-distance shot hasn’t been falling for Cleveland. For the season, the Cavs made 38.3% of their threes, and through the first three games, the wine and gold are knocking down just 27.4%.

As amazing as Mitchell has been in the series, he’s only hitting on 22.6% of his threes, compared to 36.8% in the 82-game schedule.

If the Cavs start shooting better from deep in the series, that will add another dimension to their offense, one the Pacers will have to come up with an answer for.

When you are down in a playoff series, every game becomes bigger. So, tonight’s contest will either even the series giving the Cavaliers home court advantage again or put their collective backs to the wall for the balance of these conference semi-finals.

The famed Cavs’ depth has to return for this series to swing. It can’t just be on Mitchell and the starters to be on top of their games.

Losing Game One, Cavs Need To Respond Tonight

We told everyone it wouldn’t be easy.

There is a lot of angst over the Cavaliers’ loss in game one to the Indiana Pacers, but for us, that feeling of deep concern won’t take hold unless they lose tonight to go down 0-2 in the seven-game series.

We hate to break things down in the first game to the NBA being a “make or miss league”, but that’s a good place to start. The Pacers made 53% of their three-point shots and the Cavs, the second-best team in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, made just 9 for 38 shots from beyond the arc.

There was a 30-point difference from three between the two games. It’s tough to win when you shoot poorly and the other team is hot.

Aaron Nesmith is a very good three-point shooter, making 43% in the regular season and he knocked down four of six, but Andrew Nembhard hit five of six, and he’s a 29% shooter during the 82-game schedule.

Conversely, Donovan Mitchell (36.8%) and Max Strus (38.6%) combined to hit just 3 of 19 shots from distance.

Besides missing shots, the other troubling thing about the wine and gold’s offense was the 50 shots (out of 98) taken by Mitchell and Ty Jerome. The only other Cleveland player who took more than 10 shots was Evan Mobley, who went 9 for 13 from the floor.

The shooting was a big part of the reason for the loss, but certainly not the only reason. The Pacers definitely played with more physicality, and remember they went to the conference finals last season, they have more playoff experience than Cleveland, and it showed.

The Cavs have to pick it up in terms of physical play, and this is something we feel this group needs to reminded of constantly.

Also, Kenny Atkinson loves to talk about the depth of the Cavs and during the regular season and in round one, he was right. However, Sunday night, Indiana had five bench players score, led by Bennedict Mathurin with 11.

The wine and gold had just three bench players score, but to be fair, Sam Merrill started in place of the injured Darius Garland. Jerome and De’Andre Hunter both scored in double figures, but the only other bench points were from Isaac Okoro, who had a bucket.

We thought Okoro was effective in the first half. He was a +6 and hit a layup and had two assists and two rebounds. He didn’t do much in the second half. But in the second half, it seemed he was cast as a three-point shooter, something he’s not good at. He’s much better when he attacks the basket.

Wade is another solid defender, but didn’t even attempt a shot in the first half. In the second half he missed two shots, including a wide open three which would have caused the roof at Rocket Arena to be blown off.

Because of the injuries to Garland, Hunter, and Mobley someone has to step up. Excuses are for when the series is over. Competitors overcome them. And a couple of players are going to have to produce more if none of the injured players can go.

Atkinson has to figure out a way to have both players be serviceable offensively so their defense can be a weapon.

Really, what Sunday’s loss did most was make tonight’s game pretty much a must win for the Cavaliers. They’ve demonstrated all year the ability to win on the road, but losing both home games would make it very difficult to advance.

This might be the first time all season this groups back have been against the wall. We will see what the response is.

#1 Seed Clinched. Cavs Now Need To Get Some Rest

It’s all over in the Eastern Conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the best record in the conference and home court advantage in any series in the East with their win over the Bulls Tuesday night.

So now it is sit back and wait for the weird “Play In” Tournament to be over to see who the wine and gold take on in the first round. Right now, the contenders are the Magic, Hawks, Bulls, and Heat.

The best record out of that group is Orlando’s 39-40 mark, but we know the Magic gave Cleveland a tough series last season, and they lost Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner for significant time during the regular season, so they are better than their record.

The other three teams are currently at least five games below the .500 mark, although everyone is familiar with how the Heat play when it comes playoff time.

The Cavs have three games remaining, two with Indiana, who sit in the #4 spot in the East, and are a possible second round match up and one more with the Knicks, who will probably be the #3 seed. The first two games are vs. Indiana and New York on back-to-back nights on the road, so we would bet many of the starters will either not suit up or will play very reduced minutes.

We know Jarrett Allen wants to play in all 82 games, so he will make an appearance in both road contests, but at least on Thursday, we would guess Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and possible Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter will sit that one out.

NOTE: Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Max Strus have been ruled out for tonight’s game.

So be ready to see lots of Craig Porter, Jaylon Tyson, Luke Travers, Chuma Okeke, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, and Emoni Bates over the next three games.

We are sure Bates is already dreaming of how many shots he can put up before the end of the season.

The players who carried the load to a 63-16 record deserve to rest up for the playoffs and stay healthy. And by the way, we aren’t greatly concerned about Mitchell’s sprained ankle. If need be, he could have two weeks off before the first playoff game for the Cavs.

Basketball players play basketball. And if they are on the court, there are chances for injury. And shouldn’t the Cavs be able to beat a first-round opponent without Mitchell if they had to?

Remember, the Cavaliers lost a second round series to Boston a year ago, and the Celtics didn’t have Kristaps Porzingis?

We are sure that Mitchell is fine and will probably be on the court in one of the last three games. And even if he isn’t he should be 100% when the playoffs begin.

So, the rest of the week should be about resting some key players and having everyone healthy heading into Easter weekend and the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, because of the tournament, the coaching and scouting staff cannot do a full deep dive, but we sure reports are being put together on all possible opponents.

It was a great regular season for sure, but these next two months will decide whether or not this season is a success or if some difficult decisions need to be made.

Altman All In On Blaming The Coaching

Cleveland Cavaliers’ president of basketball operations Koby Altman is apparently using the ultimate “cover you a**” move this off-season.

He is putting all of the blame for a second round exit in the playoffs on J.B. Bickerstaff. While he hasn’t said this publicly, that he has made no moves so far this summer reflects this.

Apparently, he believes Kenny Atkinson will fix the problems the wine and gold had last season.

We guess this means Atkinson has the ability to make players grow, because that’s one of the problems the current roster has. The simply aren’t big enough. They still have two guards who are under 6’3″ and a caste of small forwards who are 6’6″ and shorter.

At the risk of being called negative (we prefer realistic in this case), the Cavs were fortunate to get past Orlando in the first round. Despite virtually no playoff experience, Cleveland had its hands full with the bigger Magic squad.

It took a yeoman effort from Donovan Mitchell to win. Mitchell averaged 28.7 points, 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in the series, and outside of Jarrett Allen, who only played the first four games, 17.0 PPG, no one else on the Cavs scored even 15 points per contest in the series.

In the deciding seventh game, Mitchell scored 39 points with 9 boards and 5 dimes. The next best scorer? Caris LeVert with 15 points.

It seems Altman has done what many first-time executives have done, and that is fall in love with the players he has drafted. He looks at all the things that those players could do to cause them to draft them and doesn’t look at how they fit together or how those talents translate to the NBA game.

To be fair, we have been around coaches who are just the opposite, they love players from afar only to grow to dislike them as players when they actually have to coach them. It does work both ways.

Let us say here that we love the hire of Atkinson. He was our first choice because of what he accomplished with the Nets. But this isn’t the college game. Coaching doesn’t make that much of a difference in the NBA in terms of scheming.

How many great NBA coaches are there? Yes, there’s Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Popovich, but how many others?

The best executives can look at the talent assembled and realize what and who fits and who doesn’t. He can see a problem like a lack of size and fix that problem. That’s what Altman needs to do.

This isn’t to say Altman can’t do a good job, but he does have to be open to seeing the warts. Mitchell and Darius Garland aren’t bad players, but they don’t seem to bring out the best in each other.

And that’s alright. But now is the time to fix it.

Look, Altman sped up the progression of this roster when he traded for Mitchell, a perennial all-star. You don’t do that and then wait for an incremental improvement.

However, since he traded for Mitchell, his only additions to the roster were free agents Max Strus and Georges Niang, three-point shooters. We felt Strus was not as good of a shooter (he isn’t) as Altman thought, and Niang is pretty much a one-dimensional player, although we do think he is better than what he showed in the playoffs.

There is still plenty of time for Altman to upgrade this roster. But he can’t keep looking at the players he selected and think coaching did them in.

Nothing Against Tyson, Cavs Still Need Size

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their first attempt to add some size in the NBA Draft Wednesday night, but chose not to do it, drafting G Jaylon Tyson from California with the 20th overall pick.

We say guard because Tyson is 6’5-1/2″ and we are sorry, but in today’s NBA, that’s a guard. We know Cleveland last season played Max Strus (6’5″) at small forward, but we reiterate, that’s the height of a guard.

This isn’t to denigrate Tyson. We also wanted the Cavaliers to draft more well-rounded players as they have a lot of one-dimensional guys, and Tyson appears to be that. He’s a good shooter, moves well without the ball and is a willing passer, all good traits on the offensive end of the floor.

His scouting report says he’s not fast, nor a leaper, but other players have been able to make themselves decent defensively with less physical attributes.

Cleveland could’ve drafted KyShawn George (6’8″), DaRon Holmes (6’10”), Baylor Scheierman (6’7″), or even Kyle Filipowski (7′) and added needed height.

Instead, Tyson joins the 6’5″/6’6″ collection on the roster, joining Strus, Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill, and the forgotten Ty Jerome.

We understand the off-season has just begun, so there is plenty of time to restructure the roster and clear a few of the players we just mentioned, but again, the first thought we had when the pick was announced was another 6’5″ player.

Starting later today, the free agency period starts in the NBA and so there will be a lot of player movement over the next week. Cavs’ president of basketball operations Koby Altman has said that he would like to keep the “core 4” together and this has been repeated through reports since the season ended.

We will soon find out if this is “GM speak” or not.

We are sure new coach Kenny Atkinson has discussed the roster with his new boss. Does he concur with Altman, that is the big question.

In our humble opinion, and we are not alone, the backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland doesn’t work if Cleveland wants to take another step forward and get to the conference finals next season.

It doesn’t mean they are both talented, it just means they don’t play off of each other. This is hardly news in the NBA. We frequently cite the late 60’s Lakers who had Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor. When Baylor was injured, the team took off.

A more recent team would be Milwaukee, where it looks like at least in the first year, that the Bucks were better with Jrue Holiday than with Damian Lillard.

Running it back with the Core 4 (by the way, we hate calling them that) just delays progress another season. Right now, in the East, there is Boston, and then no clear-cut secondary contender.

With the correct moves, Cleveland could become the challenger to the world champion Celtics. We don’t think this can be done without a significant roster change.

We guess what we are really saying is the Cavs need Evan Mobley to take a big jump, and we doubt that can happen with two ball dominant small guards playing 35 minutes per night.

We should find out soon what Altman thinks. And of course, there is still the need for more size.

Let the off-season begin!

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.

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’ Direction May Depend On Tonight’s Result

Regardless of whether or not the Cleveland Cavaliers win their first round series against the Orlando Magic, it feels like tonight’s Game 5 is a referendum on what the organization has built since LeBron James departed for Los Angeles after the 2018 NBA Finals.

We have not wavered on this, but although we do not think J.B. Bickerstaff is one of the NBA’s best tacticians, part of the problem for the wine and gold is the makeup of the current roster.

We have bemoaned the lack of height for the past two seasons, but it’s not only the tallness of the players, it’s the builds as well. For example, right now Darius Garland and Evan Mobley don’t have the strength to overcome physical play.

Also, the team isn’t mentally tough. They seem to be frontrunners. When things are going well, great, but as soon as something goes wrong, they don’t seem to know how to get things turned around.

And that falls on Koby Altman.

After last season’s playoff loss to the Knicks, Altman looked at the team and decided they needed more shooting, so they signed Max Strus who has one season shooting over 35% from three, and veteran Georges Niang, a career 40% shooter from beyond the arc.

So far in this series, they have made 4 of 28 from long range.

However, we thought at the time the biggest reason for the 4-1 “gentleman’s sweep” by New York last spring was the inability to match the physicalness the Knicks presented. And that was not addressed in the summer, and the two games in Orlando showed the Cavs are still lacking in that department.

Orlando has outrebounded Cleveland in the series after four games, and if the Cavs get to 100 points tonight, it will be for the first time in the series.

The popular thing in NBA circles is when a team loses, the team’s best player is to blame, a theory we do not subscribe to. That isn’t to say Donovan Mitchell has been great in this series, but it’s not as though the coaching staff has done anything to get Mitchell going.

He had a great first half on Saturday, scoring 18 points taking just one three pointer. In the disastrous third quarter, the Cavaliers were outscored 37-10, Mitchell took four shots, three of them from long distance.

When your opponent is on a run, you have to have a set to get your best player a good look. We are still waiting. And by the way, Cleveland’s second-best player, Jarrett Allen, took just two shots.

Meanwhile, Evan Mobley has taken more shots in the series than Darius Garland, a curious statistic. While Garland gives us headaches when he is trying to set up the offense, too much dribbling and very turnover prone, he has been the Cavs’ best three-point shooter in the series, making 9 of 22 (40.9%).

Even if the Cavs win tonight and go on to advance to the second round, these issues aren’t going away, unless Mobley and Garland spend extensive time in the weight room, which we would guess they already do.

As for tonight, let’s hope Bickerstaff is willing to try something different. We would not run away from Strus and/or Niang, but if they aren’t making shots, you have to try Sam Merrill and Marcus Morris, no?

And perhaps use Tristan Thompson up front to provide some muscle, and more resistance to Mo Wagner near the basket.

Orlando has made adjustments to get back in the series. Each of their two best scorers, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have gone off for 30 points. Now, it’s the Cavaliers’ turn to answer back.

The bigger question is can they?

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.

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.