WFNY Staff Chat: Cleveland Cavaliers first round playoff opponent

The NBA playoffs are almost here, with 20-ish games left to play in the regular season. Cleveland is fairly locked into a playoff spot with the 2nd or 3rd pick in range, with a four-game lead on the 4th place New York Knicks. A home series seems to be in hand, and Cleveland has produced much better at home than on the road. With that being said, who would you rather see in the playoffs in the first round and why?

Seth: First, I'll define the teams that are the most plausible opponents the Cavs will face in the first round. Orlando, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, and Indiana are all currently within 2.5 games of each other, sandwiched between the 4th and 8th seeds in the East. All are potential suitors in the first round barring a significant Cavalier collapse over the next twenty games. In terms of who I'd like the Cavs to see in the first round, it's the Indiana Pacers by a fair margin. It's not so much that I'm begging to see a high-powered offense led by Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, but, the other potential first-round suitors all have one thing in common: when healthy, they play with a level of physicality that could bother Cleveland. New York...enough said. Keep me as far away from this match-up in the first round as possible. Put the Heat in this equation too. Spoelstra, playoff Jimmy, and Bam Adebayo make for a terrifying combination - just ask the Celtics. Now that the Heat are getting positive offensive contributions from the point guard position, they're going to be a difficult out for anyone in the East. Orlando has one of the best defensive guards in the league in Jalen Suggs who would spend the bulk of his time on Donovan Mitchell. They're big at every position and split the season series with Cleveland, 2-2. They are years away from their peak, but, this team has the ability to junk up a series on the defensive end. The only team we haven't spoken about yet and the biggest wildcard in the East, is Philadelphia. No one knows what Embiid will look like when and if he returns. I'm assuming some level of health in this exercise, and when healthy, Embiid is a top-3 player in the world who would give body shot after body shot to the Cavs' big men in a series. Whether it's Indiana's low rebound rate (28th in the league) or their lack of experience, this leads me back to preferring a fun, offensively charged Pacers vs. Cavs match-up in round one.Andrew: My response can be pared down to this graph: Matt: The Cavs potential opponents in a first-round series are as messy as a mosh pit. Everyone is elbow to elbow with each other, dancing, kicking, and jumping through the crowd, hoping nobody gets stepped on, all while trying to avoid the play-in tournament. Not to say Cleveland is looking down on them from an ivory tower, but your guess is as good as mine when 2.5 games separate the 4-8 seeds. For the sake of the discussion, I’ll give it a shot, though. The one I want the most at this current time is probably the Orlando Magic. Right now, they are a team that is on the rise, a young team who missed out on the play-in last year and would be happy to get back in the dance, finally. Sure, they are big at every position, and Jalen Suggs could cause issues for Mitchell and Garland, but their half-court offense grinds things to a halt. Especially in a seven-game series, I think the Cavs would ultimately win, exploiting their lack of experience and shutting their water off on defense. For the team I would hate to see in the first round, I hate to sound like everyone else, but it’s probably the Knicks. Recent history seems to be against the Cavs right now; not to say they can’t overcome it; you can never say never in sports, but it’s understandable why the PTSD has overtaken the fanbase in that regard. Despite both teams having a hard time scoring on each other, the Cavs haven’t scored over 100 points in recent matchups for whatever reason. I still believe the Cavs can win a series against the Knicks, but I would rather not bet my house on it.Gerbs: While there seemed to be a sliver of good news on the Donovan Mitchell injury front over the weekend, it's hard to fathom winning a playoff series against anyone with the way the team currently is with all the damages done to the roster. But since that's not what the prompt asked for, ((A prompt that I created, so get mad at yourself, editor boy.)) I'm going to say the one team I'd most like to face is the Indiana Pacers. Their size isn't anything Cleveland needs to worry about and if scoring is what is needed, Mitchell should be good to go by the first round. I would be over the moon to avoid the Knicks for a round, letting them rock fight with someone else for a bit. Miami has "that" gene that they can kick it up a notch, and Orlando is big all over which undercuts the second Lord Of The Rings movie theme of Cleveland's frontcourt. Philly might be next, especially if Embiid is out, but even when he's healthy, he's the only big they can throw at Cleveland that's menacing and the rest of the roster isn't as intimidating. So sure, let's face the Pacers who have points falling out of their pockets.