In 1998 the Cleveland Cavaliers went 47-35, making the NBA Playoffs under head coach Mike Fratello. They would miss the playoffs the next seven years before LeBron James and head coach Mike Brown led them back in 2005-06. Over the next two decades, the Cavs followed a simple pattern: if they had LeBron, they made the playoffs; if they didn’t, they missed out.
That changed Sunday night when Cleveland beat the Houston Rockets and clinched a playoff berth. For the first time in 25 years, the Cavaliers will be in the playoffs without LeBron James. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, a solid supporting cast – they have made the playoffs and then some.
The next milestone ahead of them? To win the first playoff series without LeBron James since 1992-93, 30 long seasons ago, when Brad Daugherty and Mark Price starred for Cleveland under head coach Lenny Wilkens.
Celebrating the Cavaliers’ bigs
Jarrett Allen was a beast against the Houston Rockets on Sunday night, dominating inside against Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. He led the Cavs in scoring with 24 points, along with 14 rebounds, three blocks and a perfect 8-for-8 night from the free-throw line.
Evan Mobley had another jaw-dropping performance as he continues his breakout season. Mobley’s stat line: 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal. He’s doing everything on the court for Cleveland, and the pairing of Mobley and Allen is going to be incredibly tough for anyone to beat in the playoffs.
What a sequence by Evan Mobley 😤 pic.twitter.com/109x5NE4Vj
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 26, 2023
Mobley is the linchpin of the Cavs’ recent success, the turning point from lottery to playoffs. The Cavs won an average of 20 games in the three seasons after LeBron James left for the Los Angeles Lakers. Then they drafted Mobley, and since? They have gone 92-60, missing the playoffs by a whisker last season and making it with room to spare this year.
Who will the Cavaliers face in the playoffs?
The Cavaliers have an 87 percent chance of locking into the fourth seed, per PlayoffStatus.com. They cannot finish lower than sixth and the “magic number” to finish no lower than fourth is just two (a magic number is the combined wins by the Cavs and losses by the teams below them needed to clinch a spot). The Philadelphia 76ers’ magic number to clinch the third seed is just 5, but that means there is a chance that Cleveland could still catch them if they win out or something close to it, and the 76ers continue to falter down the stretch.
It’s not clear whether the fourth seed or the third seed would be a more desirable spot for the Cavs, and the 5-7 spots in the East are still in flux. The New York Knicks have a 77 percent chance of finishing in fifth, but that still leaves a roughly 1-in-4 chance it’s the Brooklyn Nets or Miami Heat who land there. The Knicks play the Heat and Cavs this week, likely deciding their fate.
What to read
This weekend saw some big articles drop on the website that you should check out. First, the looked into a trade idea by the website Fanspo that would involve Darius Garland and enrage the Cleveland fan base. Is there any chance it’s a trade worth making?
Also this weekend, we did a deep dive into the 7 best undrafted talents to play for the Cavaliers. That includes a couple of home-grown talents playing on the current roster, as well as a multi-time All-Star who anchored the middle years ago.
Finally, Glenn Minnis did a quick check into the three X-factors for the Cavaliers the rest of the season.
Coming up: The Cavaliers hit the road for a single game in Atlanta against the Hawks.