Worn and Weary, Yet Playoff-Bound Winners
With about four minutes left in a close game against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, the Cavs gained possession on a steal and Donovan Mitchell brought the ball up the court. Cleveland had a 3-on-2 advantage, but Mitchell made a veteran decision in methodically bringing the ball up the court rather than frantically running out for a quick bucket. His patience and control were rewarded when he got the ball in the paint, dishing to Evan Mobley for an easy dunk and a 117-111 advantage. That play alone showed growth for a team that has been fighting the reputation of "lights too bright" since Jarrett Allen's quote after last season's swift playoff exit against the New York Knicks. But down the stretch, Mitchell kept control, Garland stayed clean(ish), and the Cavs held off the Pacers, 129-120, clinching a playoff spot and guaranteeing at least the 4-seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning home court in the first round.
From the start of the game, the Cavs played with a sense of urgency, especially playing with more pace and purpose on offense. Evan Mobley grabbed rebounds and looked to bring the ball up himself instead of dumping the ball to a guard. Mitchell looked for shots at every occasion, finishing with a game-high 33 points. He had plenty of help from Allen, who finished the 1st quarter with nine points and seven rebounds, and finished the game with 29 points and 13 rebounds, going 13 of 14 from the floor. They finished the first half with 70 points, an admirable total in a game of 2K.
With a large crowd on hand that knew this could be a playoff-clincher for Cleveland against a fellow playoff-bound Indiana, the game had an air of playoff atmosphere. Georges Niang got in the face of TJ McConnell after the first quarter, and the two were jawing at each other on both sides of the ball until they earned double technicals in the second. Niang has put himself in the middle of the trash talk on court all year, with him and Max Strus leading Cleveland in chest-to-chest conversations with opponents all year. At least until Marcus Morris showed up to provide his own antics, which I am much less of a fan of, though he becomes a more important player with Dean Wade possibly out for the year. Morris did not play on Friday. The Cavs let their advantage shrink to as little as two in the fourth, but for most of the game, they held a 7-12 point lead, keeping most Pacer charges at bay. While the Pacers went 10-deep and had eight players score in double figures, the Cavs' 8-man rotation and star-led scoring we saw tonight might be another playoff preview.
SHEEEESH.@evanmobley | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/ttxdOW2ILG
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 13, 2024
This has been a year of growing pains (and real-life injury pains) for most of the Cavaliers, but maybe this game is the team flipping a switch to playoff serious play. Garland was called for a technical foul for kicking the ball after a bad turnover in this game, and he still needs to clean up the turnovers and shoot more open and sort of open threes, but he also hit a clutch three in the last two minutes of the game Friday while keeping a better handle on the ball and his passes to keep Indiana from getting out in transition in clutch time. Garland finished 4-of-5 from 3, but throughout the game, he still passed up too many 3s to dribble inside, some leading to turnovers. Mobley and Allen locked up the paint on offense and defense and were both aggressive on shooting their shots while also going to get rebounds instead of simply letting the ball come to them. Had the Cavs dropped this one, Indiana would have tied the Cavs in the standings, but also would earn the tiebreaker, essentially passing them in playoff seeding. But the Cavs turned clutch plays from Isaac Okoro and a bad foul by Tyrese Haliburton on a Strus 3 into an easier pullaway instead of a nailbiter. Putting a good team away at home after the Cavs recent disappointing play is a sign of growth at the right time of the year. One last sign of growth I would like to see after this year is retiring the junkyard dog chain. That's fun stuff for young teams, but this team should have bigger ideals than that. And they gave it to Marcus Morris for trying to take a guy's head off with his elbow, an act that got him ejected from that game. Stupid, show-offy toughness, nothing of substance. Get it out of here and get off my lawn, you kids!
In his postgame press conference, Mitchell was all business, saying this performance is "the bare minimum" and, "This is what I'm here to do, this is what we're all here to do." This was a good win against a good team, something that has been hard to come by for the Cavs in the last two months. The Cavs are a prime example of the regular season being about survival. The thriving times are long gone; they have had to fight for every win in the last 30 games. Garland and Mobley might be the healthiest right now that they have been all year, but Mitchell is clearly still fighting his knee and Allen had looked worn out until Friday night. The Cavs offense will go as far as their guards will take them, and their defense will go as far as their bigs will carry them. After Sunday against Charlotte, the Cavs will have reached a finish line. Now that they punched their playoff ticket, we soon get to see how much they've grown accustomed to the lights and the scrutiny. It's time to Let Em Know.