The Cavaliers need their role players to step up when called upon

At this point last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in position to make the playoffs without going through the Play-In Tournament. However, they lost eight of 11 games down the stretch and endured key injuries, causing them to fall down the Eastern Conference standings into the Play-In. This season, Cleveland is poised to go straight to the playoffs and avoid the Play-In Tournament. But, if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs, they need their role players to step up when needed.

The Cavaliers need their role players to step up when called upon.

Once the Cavaliers made the trade for Donovan Mitchell in early September, they were instantly thrust into the contender discussion. This season they’ve towed the line between true championship contenders or just playoff contenders. Regardless of what they’ve done so far this season, the Cavs still belong in the contender discussion, something they haven’t been part of since LeBron James left for Hollywood in the summer of 2018.

When LeBron came back for his second run in Cleveland, the Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors met in the NBA Finals every season. The two teams should’ve won two championships each during their four-year run, but Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving’s injuries during the 2015 run allowed the Warriors to win the Finals in six games.

While the Kyrie-LeBron tandem was the primary reason the Cavs had as much success as they did, the secondary reason was because they were surrounded by playmakers and shooters. Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, and Richard Jefferson acted as complementary guys who didn’t need the ball in their hands, but made plays happen when given the opportunity. In Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cavs even got a surprise contribution from Dahntay Jones.

It was a similar set up to what LeBron had while he was with the Miami Heat. Why did the Heat win Game 6 and Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals (two of the best games I’ve ever seen) against the San Antonio Spurs? Guys like Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller made big plays when they were called upon to do so.