On Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers were destroyed by the Atlanta Hawks, who seemingly played with more energy from the jump. Cleveland conceded 81 first half points in that outing, and while the Cavaliers did have a much better effort in the second half of that game, they trailed by as many as 32 points in the contest, and they couldn’t get stops nearly enough to really threaten Atlanta.
The Hawks would mostly cruise in crucial stretches, and go on to beat the Cavs 136-119. Cleveland was on the second night of a back-to-back, following a 115-109 loss versus the Denver Nuggets at home, but coming out of the All-Star break, that Atlanta loss was unacceptable.
The team knows that, and players postgame touched on how, for whatever reason, the Cavaliers did not play with the level of intensity they need to each game, and it spelled doom for them Friday night.
A soundbite that likely resonated with Cavaliers fans had to do with the following from Ricky Rubio, who is undoubtedly one of the team leaders, and one of their stabilizers on the floor when he’s in in bench minutes. Here was more on that front following the loss to the Hawks postgame, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
"‘Not really, Rubio told cleveland.com when asked if he senses the requisite urgency coming down the stretch. ‘We have to figure that out. We came out of All-Star break and this is where you start turning it on for the playoffs. It’s something we have to figure out sooner than later. Last night we played a really good game. Tonight, was one of the worst performances of the season. We take pride in our defense, we’re the No. 1 defense, and they scored almost 140 points in the game and 81 points at the half. That can’t happen. Need to be better.'”"
Those comments from Rubio a few days ago were on-point, and the Cavs have to apply them every game from here.
The Cavaliers were not playing a championship-caliber team like the Nuggets after the Hawks game, with them set to face the Toronto Raptors on Sunday evening, who entered the contest at a game under .500. But the Raptors have dealt with injuries all season long, and they had entered the game winning four straight, and are nearing full-strength.
Of course, Fred VanVleet missed his third straight game due to personal reasons, which didn’t aid Toronto’s case still. Nor did the Raptors being on the second leg of a back-to-back.
That said, it was nice to see the Cavaliers get off the schnide yesterday, control things for much of the way, and come up with a relatively stress-free 118-93 win. Donovan Mitchell led the way with 35 points, nailed eight three-point shots, Darius Garland had 18 points and 11 assists, and Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were big on both ends.
Cleveland has had their issues with Toronto this season, having lost the first three meetings, so Sunday’s game brought some relief. However, there were still some issues here and there in the game, and Garland postgame touched on how the Cavaliers seemingly turned things up in the third quarter, and he emphasized how the Cavs need to have that sort of effort and seemingly urgency throughout every game. This clip came via Bally Sports Cleveland.
Darius Garland discusses his connection with Jarrett Allen, calling both him and Evan Mobley great decision-makers.
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) February 27, 2023
The point guard also felt as if there was a fire lit under the Cavs in the 3rd quarter, and says they need to play with that energy for 48 minutes moving forward. pic.twitter.com/SNLjbIAOri
Those comments from Garland sort of drove home Rubio’s message from after the game before, in the sense that for the Cavaliers to finish the regular season strong, and potentially catch the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 3 seed, for example, they have to play with purpose and intensity for 48 minutes.
Now, J.B. Bickerstaff getting other bench contributors such as Dean Wade and Cedi Osman more consistent minutes would help in doing that, and here and there, some Raul Neto spurt minutes could be impactful.
Generally speaking, though, the Cavaliers need to realize that their postseason essentially starts now, with how so many teams in the hunt in the East. The Cavs have a very difficult matchup at the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, and they have to bring their A game there, and from here the rest of the way.
Rubio’s message was on-point a few days ago, and going forward, the Cavs have to continually apply that message from one of their veteran leaders and still most meaningful playmakers.