What Happened To The Cleveland Cavaliers?
Entering the postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers were an exciting, mysterious dark horse. Right now, they’re on the brink of an upset.
I had high expectations for Cleveland in the playoffs. You would have to search far and wide for a bigger fan of this team than me. While I admitted they weren’t perfect, I liked them more than most did nationally. Heading into this grind-it-out, throwback series with the Knicks, I was confident the Cavaliers would win despite their flaws. It’s safe to say things haven’t gone to plan.
After a humiliating game three blowout loss, it was do or die time in game four. A loss would all but seal Cleveland’s fate. You would’ve thought that the Cavs would come out with energy, heart, and clean up the sloppiness from the previous game. Instead, this upstart team is heading home in a 1-3 hole wondering where everything went south.
An Expert Diagnosis: The Little Things
I could go on for hours about what the Cavaliers haven’t done in this series. Aside from their blowout two home win, the Knicks have been far and away the better team in this series. They’ve done all the small things that Cleveland hasn’t.
From offensive rebounds to turnovers to loose balls, seemingly every break has gone the Knicks’ way. I don’t think the term “50-50” ball applies to this series. If you want to call that luck or not enough effort, that’s not the point. It’s those little things that have killed Cleveland in this series.
For a team that prides itself on the defensive end and has an elite frontcourt, the Cavs have been soft on the defensive glass. That’s the best way to describe it. Through four games, the Knicks have totaled 58 offensive rebounds and 71 seconds chance points! That can’t happen if you want to win a series. With Evan Mobley out on the perimeter to deal with a hobbled Julius Randle (something he’s done masterfully, by the way), Jarrett Allen has gotten tossed around by Mitchell Robinson.
Josh Hart has easily navigated poor boxouts from Cleveland’s perimeter players. Eventually, all those extra possessions lead to demoralizing baskets. The Cavs have been good at defending New York in the halfcourt. But, when they are forced to scramble off a miss, things get messy.
New York has also thrived off of the gifted possessions Cleveland has given them. In game three, the Cavs turned the ball over 20 times. 12 more turnovers followed in game four. And while the Knicks haven’t exactly taken full advantage of the giveaways (they only had eight points off of turnovers in game three), they cut down on the number of possessions the Cavs have.
In the playoffs, every possession is important. When you’re down for most of the game like Cleveland has been, every possession is a chance to gain ground. Turnovers cut down on the number of chances you have to gain momentum.
Now, each possession takes on more meaning than it should. Maybe the Cavs would be shooting slightly better if they didn’t treat each possession as some life-or-death situation. Cleveland’s shooting woes would also go away if their best bench option wasn’t Danny frickin’ Green!
The Cavaliers have a weird fetish of wanting to play in crowded spaces. Instead of trying to space the floor and move the ball, they stagnate and stand. It makes it easier for the Knicks to defend everything. Ignoring anybody not named Mitchell and Garland helps, too.
All of that combined with subpar shooting nights from Garland, Mobley, and Mitchell have put the Cavaliers in this seemingly insurmountable hole. Their offense has ground to a standstill like I-5 traffic. But, the little things are just the tip of the iceberg in what has been a disastrous debut for these Cavs.
The Brunson Angle
Despite being one of the most stubborn coaches in the league, even Tom Thibodeau knows that Julius Randle is a non-factor in this series. Randle has somehow suited up for every game in this series but has mostly resigned to standing on the perimeter collecting dust. Thibodeau benched Randle for nearly the entire fourth quarter as the Knicks pulled away in game four.
So, that means that most of New York’s offensive burden has fallen on Jalen Brunson. You would think that would make life easier for the Cavaliers. They can put all their energy and effort into one 6’2″ guard. No big deal, right?
Wrong
Brunson has been the best player in this series. By a mile. That, above everything else, has helped the Knicks win these games. Brunson dominated the second half in game one — helping the Knicks steal homecourt advantage.
In that game and throughout this series, it has been apparent that nobody JB Bickerstaff throws at the little guy can stop him. Not Okoro, not Mitchell, and definitely not Cedi Osman. Cleveland has rarely aggressively doubled Brunson, trying to make anybody else beat them. Instead, they’ve let him torture them in isolation all series long.
The Knicks have all but given up in trying to score down low. They’re smart enough not to consistently test the likes of Mobley and Allen. Instead, the Knicks have relied on their outside shooting to win them games. Brunson, in particular, has peppered them from mid-range.
It’s kind of surprising how helpless the Cavs have been. Nobody on their roster has the lateral quickness or size to deal with Brunson. Again, this was the best defense in the league. It hasn’t seemed to bother Brunson one bit.
Brunson’s offensive explosion has been going on strong even though the Cavs have constantly attacked him on the other end. After game three, even head coach JB Bickerstaff acknowledged that perhaps his team mismatch hunted a little too much. Regardless, even with the Cavs running Brunson a million pick-and-rolls, that hasn’t tired him enough to slow him down offensively.
It’s another reminder of how incomplete and exposed this Cavaliers team is. Their biggest strength (defense) has been utterly picked apart by one dude. Luka Doncic just smashed a coffee table somewhere.
Blame Sandwich
I’m aware that this series isn’t over. Cleveland still has homecourt advantage, and a Game 7 would be played on their home floor. I get that. But, if we’re being honest, I don’t see Cleveland recovering from this hole they’ve dug themselves into. Even though they’ve been gifted a shitty Randle series, the Cavs have blown this series.
So, assuming that this series goes in New York’s favor, who are we blaming? I think a good place to start is general manager Koby Altman. While Altman has hit some home runs with the likes of Mobley and the Mitchell trade, this roster is paper thin outside of his All-Star quartet. He and the rest of the front office have a lot of work to do (with limited assets) to fill out this bench unit. Finding a reliable wing defender has to be at the top of Cleveland’s priorities this offseason (hint hint: OG Anunoby).
How much should we blame JB Bickerstaff? While he’s done a great job helping turn around this franchise, the Cavaliers have looked flat for long portions of this series. He hasn’t gotten his young guys to show some fight. The turnovers and sloppiness have persisted. I don’t know how much you blame that on Bickerstaff, but he’s certainly not devoid of blame in this conversation.
(Send a double team at Brunson! Please!)
Mobley and Allen have been thoroughly outplayed by Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein. Darius Garland has played five good quarters. The same goes for Donovan Mitchell, whose homecoming back to MSG has been less than ideal. Let’s call it the opposite of what Liam Neeson would do if his daughter got kidnapped.
I know some people will point to Cleveland’s lack of postseason experience as a reason for the downfall. To those people, I say have you watched the Sacramento Kings battle the Warriors at all? That’s not good enough for me.
If I were a doctor, I would still be in the dark about my diagnosis for Cleveland. I’ve obviously seen them play poorly, but to see a 51-win team get undressed like this is jarring. Again, this series isn’t over. The odds that the Knicks go full 1997 implosion on us are still high. These are the Knicks we’re talking about, after all.
But, throughout the season, I always thought the Cavaliers had another gear to hit. That they have another level to reach. Instead, this postseason, they’ve been a deer in headlights. And this postseason has shown us that they have a lot of work to do, even if they miraculously get out of this series.
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