Cavs’ playoff berth checks box, and this should be only the beginning

It’s been a heck of a long time since the Cleveland Cavaliers made the playoffs without LeBron James on the team. The Cavs hadn’t accomplished that feat since the 1997-98 season, when Shaun Kemp and company did so.

Fortunately for fans of the Wine and Gold, it’s a new day for this group, and the Cavaliers will be back in the postseason. Following the Cavs’ victory over the rebuilding Houston Rockets on Sunday night, Cleveland secured a playoff berth. Cleveland notched their 48th win of the 2022-23 season in the process.

Donovan Mitchell has been a driving force for the Cavaliers’ success this season, and looking onward, the Core Four guys in Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are an excellent young quartet to keep building around in coming years. For Cavs fans, this is an exciting time for the team, which is still largely young, but an emerging group.

Additionally, upon getting back to the postseason, after a resurgent year in 2021-22 with a Play-In appearance, this is another chance for the Cavaliers to keep pushing forward.

The Cavs checked the playoffs box, and this should be only the beginning for this group.

The Cavaliers cruised on Sunday in a matchup against a Rockets team where they should have done so. To the Cavs’ credit, though, they conceded only 11 points in the fourth quarter to rebound after Houston torched them for 37 points in the third period, and sealed the victory 108-91.

The Cavaliers have assuredly benefited from a soft schedule in recent weeks, but, it has been a plus to see them handle their business and in the process, continue building momentum heading into the playoffs. Cleveland has been 10-5 in post-All-Star break play, and they’ve won nine of their last 11 contests.

Their defense and key timely offensive plays have helped them close the regular season strong. Mitchell has had his foot on the gas, Mobley has been outstanding and a two-way stud, and others have had their moments as well. It’s been encouraging to see Ricky Rubio find his rhythm as the season has progressed here, and Caris LeVert has been coming up with tons of clutch plays for the Cavaliers on both ends of the floor in his minutes.

Now, the playoffs are going to be a completely different animal for this young group, and aside from Mitchell, the core guys will be in an environment they’re not used to. Jarrett Allen played in two playoff series’ with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and 2020, but he’s not been on that stage since.

However, with the Cavaliers’ core still such a young quartet, and one that is just scratching the surface in terms of them playing together, this team could just be getting started. It’s again going to be a tough road in the playoffs, and Cleveland is not at the level of the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers, the East’s other three clubs ahead of them in playoff seeding.

Cleveland will have to have some meaningful offensive contributions from their bench to aid the core guys, too, and while he has demonstrated strides made there, Isaac Okoro will have to prove he can knock down open catch-and-shoot looks in a playoff setting. This is provided his knee soreness is not too serious; perhaps him leaving yesterday’s game early was due to precaution, which could’ve been the case, given the Cavaliers’ situation.

Another key storyline to pay attention to is how J.B. Bickerstaff responds to the postseason stage also, for what it’s worth. Bickerstaff will need to show he can adjust game-to-game on this stage.

As we alluded to earlier, anyways, it’s great for fans and the team that the Cavs, likely to be the No. 4 seed in the East, are going to be back in the postseason, and doing so out of LeBron’s shadow is nice for the organization. Cleveland looks to be well on the way, or even in the conversation, as a team in contention.

This is a first box checked for this iteration of the team, feasibly, but if they can make noise in months ahead, continue to gel as a unit, and maybe look to add some shooting/scoring help in the offseason, this might be just the beginning for this squad. They and Bickerstaff will have to prove they belong now, though.