Cavaliers must do the one thing they've never done in Donovan Mitchell era

Over the last few seasons, the Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers have shown that they have mastered the regular season. Since the 2022-23 season, the Cavs have won 199 games, which is the third-most in the NBA. Only the Boston Celtics Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder have more wins.

Even with all of Cleveland’s regular season achievements, they have not been able to carry that success over into the playoffs. During the Mitchell era, the Cavs are only 11-15 in the postseason, including two second-round exits in each of the last two years.

This season though, Cleveland is hoping to finally break through and advance deep into the playoffs. They acquired James Harden, Keon Ellis, and Dennis Schroder with that goal in mind. In order to do that though, the Cavs must do something they have never done before in the Mitchell era.

Cavaliers need to be peaking at the right time, which starts with a good month of March

Cleveland has always had elite stretches during December and January, but they have never peaked during the second half of the season. In 2024, they went just 7-10 in March, including finishing the month with a 2-5 record. They were a little better in 2025 with an 11-5 record, but they had a brutal four-game losing streak, and just a 2-3 west coast stretch. 

The bottom line is that the Cavs have always limped into the postseason in each of the last three years. Whether it was injuries to key pieces, subpar play, or just not being able to survive brutal back to backs or five game in seven night stretches, March has not been kind to Cleveland. 

That has to change this year. Great teams are playing their best basketball after the All-Star break, not before it. Fortunately for the Cavs, their schedule will be kind to them in March. They have four days off from March 3rd to March 8th and have two stretches of two days off towards the end of the month. 

Additionally, according to tankathon.com, they have the NBA’s fourth-easiest remaining schedule. So the lighter schedule, combined with weaker opponents, should mean more success for the Cavs during the second half of the year. 

They do also have tough, playoff-like games remaining against the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and New York Knicks, matchups they can use to fine-tune their playoff mindset.

Cleveland wants this to be the year of their breakthrough. They have all the pieces they need to make that run. Now, they need to prove it on the court, not only to move forward, but to also show Mitchell that this is the place where he can compete for championships.