Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.
Practice Notebook: Another test comes on Tuesday in a playoff-like atmosphere for the Cavs
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Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and thelandondemand.comThere may be more parity this season in the NBA than in recent memory. Entering play Monday night, there are seven teams that have won at least 30 games and 24 of the league’s 30 teams are within four games of the .500 mark on the year. That means races not only to get into the playoffs are tight, but the races for playoff seeding are as well.
The Cavaliers find themselves in that situation right now. They’re pretty safely in the playoffs for the time being, holding a 3.5-game lead over the seventh-place New York Knicks. The thing to keep track of in the standings right now are the relation between the Cavaliers and four other teams.
As of Monday, the Cavaliers are within three games in the standings of the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, and Miami Heat, on either end. They trail the first three in the standings while holding a 2.5-game lead over the Heat for fifth place.
That means the Cavaliers have some big games on the horizon, including Tuesday night’s clash with the Heat at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with the two teams currently slotted in fifth and sixth in the Eastern Conference. This team is going to start to experience more games in playoff-like atmospheres and Tuesday night certainly should qualify.
“I think that's the part of having the patience with that and understanding that the playoffs don't necessarily start in May. They start in nights, like these games coming up,” All-Star point guard Donovan Mitchell said after practice on Monday. “Like tomorrow is a big game for the standings, the fifth or sixth seed or whatever. And understanding the energy that they are going to bring. We're ahead of them. Understanding that.”
Nights like Tuesday against Miami can serve as both a measuring stick and an example of what playoff basketball could be like for this young group. The Cavs have already had a few nights similar to the game against Miami and will have more throughout the season. This is just the next one.
“I think tomorrow's game will definitely be a playoff type game,” Mitchell said. “The Boston games at the beginning of the year. The game we lost in Utah, that's a playoff atmosphere. That's a road type game. The game against Golden State, the game against the Clippers, both games against Golden State and the Clippers. And you look at how we lost a few of those games is because – the Milwaukee game in Milwaukee, the first Milwaukee game here – those are games where you looking, we've lost Golden States, the LAs, they just turn it to another gear they had.”
The Cavs are still searching for that gear and how to access it when needed. It’s something that comes in time as a group grows together. There are very few examples in NBA history of young teams being great right away when a player the caliber of Mitchell is incorporated. Despite some nights that have certainly been frustrating for the team, they’re still – at the very worst – right on schedule with where they should be.
With each game like this that the Cavs have, they can learn a little bit more about themselves and these situations. That’s what makes the measuring stick games exciting. It puts the team in an atmosphere that they’re not typically in. This year it also has an added meaning for playoff positioning in an incredibly tight Eastern Conference.
“Tomorrow will be another test for us,” Mitchell said. “I tell these guys, look there's going to be nights, especially when the All-Star break hits, once we get back to it, this seeding is crazy. You could win four in a row and be second. You can lose four in a row be 10. So, understanding that every game counts, but also in the same token, not putting that pressure on yourself every night. Cause it can wear on you as the year goes on.”
