March holds a number of difficult East matchups for the Cavaliers
In between the games against the Celtics and the showdown against the Knicks which bookend the month of March, the Cavaliers have critical matchups against teams they might encounter in the postseason. The Cavs play the Miami Heat (twice), the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets (twice), and the Hawks; all teams behind the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference standings.
Miami is seventh with a 33-30 record, just behind sixth-place Brooklyn at 34-28. The Cavs visit the Heat and Nets for two-game sets each. Cleveland heads to Miami-Dade Arena on Mar. 8 and Mar. 10. The Cavs and Heat split their first two meetings at RMFH, with Miami scraping by Cleveland 100-97 on Jan. 31 in their last matchup. The Heat improved to 29-23 on the season, while the Cavaliers fell to 31-22. Jimmy Butler was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, while Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro combined for 36 points (they each scored 18).
Cleveland heads to Barclays Center on Mar. 21 and Mar 23. Brooklyn and Miami are both within striking distance of Cleveland, so those four games could turn out to be crucial in how the standings shake-up. In their only meeting thus far, the Nets defeated the Cavs 125-117 in Cleveland the day after Christmas. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant both scored 32 points for the Nets, but neither superstar still plays in Brooklyn.
In the Cavs’ last game in the “City of Brotherly Love,” although the final score was 118-112, the game was a lot more lopsided than the score indicates. The Philadelphia 76ers controlled the game from start to finish; at halftime, the 76ers led 63-38. As the game wore on, it seemed like the Cavs had one foot in the All-Star Break. The Cavs were trying to close the gap on the Sixers for the third seed in the conference standings, but Philadelphia said: “This is a three-team race between us, the Bucks, and Celtics. You guys should just go play in the sandbox with the other teams who are playoff contenders but not title contenders.”
Cleveland will be seeking payback when Philly comes to town on Mar. 15 on ESPN. That game comes on the second night of a back-to-back for Cleveland. The night prior, the Cavs will have been in the Hornets’ nest in Charlotte (which will be the second night of a two-game set against the Charlotte Hornets).
Cleveland should be very familiar with Atlanta shaping their postseason. The Hawks bounced the Cavaliers in the Play-In Tournament last season, but the Cavs can keep the Hawks down in the standings this season. When the Cavs went down to Atlanta on Feb. 24, the Hawks routed the Cavaliers 136-119, and Trae Young scored 34 points for Atlanta. Cleveland will head back to State Farm Arena on Mar. 28. Right now, the Hawks are eighth in the East with a record of 31-31, but there is a possibility that they could figure things out and jump up the standings.
When the Cavaliers made the huge trade to bring in Donovan Mitchell, it was for situations like this. There were too many times down the stretch last season when Cleveland needed Darius Garland to shoulder more of the playmaking and scoring responsibilities. But with Mitchell in the fold, Garland doesn’t have to carry that burden anymore. He can defer to Mitchell, who is more than capable of carrying the team on any given night. Mitchell’s 71-point, 11-assist, eight-rebound performance against the Chicago Bulls earlier this season was the strongest proof of this.
The month of March is filled with games that are absolutely crucial for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ll need to come out with a sense of urgency because there are only a handful of games left in the 2022-2023 season. It appears as though the Cavs are headed to the playoffs, but these games will determine what seed they are, who their first-round opponent will be, and if they will be playing into May and June.