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Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and thelandondemand.com. You can find him on Twitter at @RealDCunningham.
The Cleveland Cavaliers clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2018 on Sunday night with a 108-91 win over the Houston Rockets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Sunday night serves as an accomplishment for this roster and this organization as a whole. Just two seasons ago, the team finished its second consecutive season with 22 wins, which was preceded by a 19-win campaign. There were signs of significant growth last season by reaching 44 wins, and another big step forward this year, as the team currently sits with 48 wins and six games remaining in the regular season.
“I think organizationally this is a big deal to come from where we came from and every year continue to take steps in the right direction in a positive direction,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said following the team clinching its playoff spot. “This is something that has been done as a collective. And again, we told the guys to enjoy this, but we ain't done yet. And I think that's the mindset we got to continue to have. We're still on the road of this process and we got to keep taking it step by step until we get to where we want to be.”
Sunday night was a goal for the Cavs. This group expected to make the playoffs and still has high aspirations once they begin postseason play in mid-April. It’s not the end of the story though.
“I don't want to downplay the moment. But in the same token, and I told the guys in there, this is what you just come to expect. You made your first one, appreciate it, enjoy it, celebrate it for the city, for the organization, for your individual guys who have made it, but at the same token like, three seed’s in play. And that's the goal. That's the focus,” Donovan Mitchell said. “And we should come to a point now where that's what is expected of us, making the playoffs and continuously being here and continuously pushing forward.”
With the playoffs beginning on April 15 and six regular season games remaining, Sunday night served as a bit of a chance to reflect on what this season has been for the Cavs.
This year brought high expectations from the day that Mitchell was acquired. Those expectations have been met while the season also has been an enjoyable experience.
“I am blessed and extremely fortunate to go to work every single day. Win, lose, win streak, losing streak, I have not had one bad day at work, and it's because of those guys,” Bickerstaff said. “Every single day we show up to practice, they're excited to be there, they're excited to see each other, they're having a good time, they care about one another, they care about the coaching staff. It's a completely inclusive building that we have.
“It's extremely rare that from top to bottom on your roster, there's not one guy that you see that is an energy zapper. Everybody who walks in the building, in that locker room, lifts people up and encourages people and has a positive attitude, again, no matter the circumstances. So we are extremely lucky and blessed to be a part of this organization.”
Putting it into perspective
The last time the Cavs made the playoffs without James on the roster was back in 1998. At the end of the regular season that year, the team had 47 wins and was the six seed in the Eastern Conference. When that happened, the only member of the current starting lineup for the Cavs that had been born yet was Donovan Mitchell.
Mitchell was 19 months old.
Starting center Jarrett Allen was born just before the playoffs started that season, while Darius Garland was born in 2000, and Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley were both born in 2001.
So, yeah, it’s been a while.
Win No. 48 for the Cavaliers also is a mark not seen without James on the roster in quite some time. It hadn’t happened in Cleveland since the 1992-93 season that featured Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, and Larry Nance leading the way for a Cavs team that won 54 games.
That season ended with a loss in the second round of the playoffs to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on May 17, 1993. Of the 17 players on the roster for the Cavs currently, including the guys on two-way deals, only four of them had been born yet.
About the game
There was actually a game played on Sunday, but it wasn’t an overly competitive one.
The Rockets showed a bit of fight in the third quarter, but they’re very clearly no match for a focused version of the Cavs right now. After being outscored 37-25 in the third quarter, the Cavs held Houston to just 11 points in the fourth quarter to win comfortably.
This was a game in which the Cavs were dominant in the paint. Both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had terrific nights, scoring 24 and 19 points, respectively. The pair combined to shoot 16-of-23 from the floor and 11-of-14 from the free throw line. They both finished with three blocks and a steal. There were times when it felt comical for Houston to even attempt to finish around the basket.
The play of the night essentially comes down to two things. One of Allen’s blocks, which may have been his best of the season. He rejected a dunk attempt by Houston’s Tari Eason with such force that the basketball bounced approximately eight feet off the ground. The other option was a sequence in which Mobley grabbed offensive rebounds off three consecutive missed 3-pointers, dunking the third one over a pair of Rockets defenders.
Look how high the ball bounces off the ground. Insane. pic.twitter.com/rlxGAoOJvp https://t.co/sqq9k6LxhR
What a sequence by Evan Mobley 😤 pic.twitter.com/109x5NE4Vj
There’s no wrong answer.
Okoro’s knee
Starting small forward Isaac Okoro left the game in the second quarter with 4:50 remaining after he previously re-entering it just 22 seconds before and then did not return after that. He was ruled out with left knee soreness and finished the night playing just under nine minutes, scoring four points.
“I mean he's been battling through it, but tonight it just started acting up and he tried to go back in and when he went back in it was just too much,” Bickerstaff said. “So, we just wanted to do the smart thing and always protect him.”
Playoff picture
The far and away most likely outcome for the Cavs is finishing in fourth place in the East when the season ends on April 9. For the team to move up to third it would take a collapse by Philadelphia – who does have the most difficult schedule remaining in the league – paired with a very strong finish by the Cavs. In order for the Cavs to finish in fifth, it may require them losing the remainder of their games.
Who the Cavs play in the first round has become a bit of an interesting race. None of the three teams they could play – New York, Brooklyn, and Miami – have been overly impressive lately. Brooklyn had lost five straight games, including two against the Cavs, before beating Miami on Saturday night. Brooklyn followed that up with a blowout loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Miami had won five of its last seven games before being outscored 64-31 by the Nets in the second half on Saturday night. The Knicks enter their game on Monday with the Rockets having lost three straight and six of nine since their nine-game winning streak ended back on March 7.
It would be fairly surprising if the Cavs faced a franchise other than the Knicks in the first round. No matter who the opponent, the Cavs will be favored to win the series barring a drastic change between now and the start of the playoffs.