While Cleveland Cavaliers fans have every reason to celebrate a tremendous 33-5 record as the season nears the halfway point, a general anxiety about the ceiling of this team may creep in when the playoffs come into question.
Through two postseason runs, the Cavs managed to win only one of their eight road games. With one series win in those two appearances (a win that took seven games and a historically-large comeback in the second half), Cleveland's regular-season successes must be met with playoff dominance.
Cleveland is not in a win-or-bust scenario. Exiting the year without a second Finals banner hanging is not ultimate defeat. However, falling short of the Eastern Conference Finals would certainly be a disappointing and embarrassing end to this chapter of Cavs basketball. The Cavaliers have battled, and won, against numerous recent champions and top contenders across the league. With the Eastern Conference top seed seemingly clinched already, Cleveland's basketball squad needs to take full advantage of this run and the team chemistry at play.
During Kenny Atkinson's first year as head coach, the Cavaliers have witnessed the meteoric rise of Evan Mobley, the return of All-Star Darius Garland, another year of Jarrett Allen's greatness and an entire rediscovery of Caris LeVert's versatility as a sixth man. Maintaining each of these player's personal impacts will be critical in a deep playoff run, but perhaps none will matter more than Mobley's offensive development.
Mobley is the key to Cleveland winning in the playoffs
Once the Cavs reach the 16-game second season, Atkinson must emphasize Mobley's strengths and put him in a place to shine as the second star alongside Donovan Mitchell. In his fourth season, the former third-overall pick has averaged a career-high 18.9 points per game with 8.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 blocks. He has become one of the biggest names likely to earn his first All-Star appearance this season.
Despite this tremendous regular season, Mobley has admittedly been unpredictable in the postseason. In his first playoff run against the New York Knicks, the Cavs young star disappeared against a more physical, experienced opponent. His second run was better, though he could still become a non-factor offensively in key moments.
Thankfully, Atkinson's offensive system has been able to open the floor for Mobley to run the offense more as both a scorer and distributor. Once game 82 ends, the Cavaliers must prioritize integrating Mobley into the postseason system as an offensive star.
The more that the Cavs can elevate the former USC Trojan offensively, the more everything opens for his teammates. In past seasons, Cleveland has been brutally outclassed on the perimeter. This lack of floor spacing allowed opponents to suffocate the paint, especially when Mobley and Allen shared the court together. Staggering minutes could alleviate the problem moderately, but being unable to play the core four together made the Cavaliers' offense grow stale, predictable and entirely exploitable.
Evolving his offense to include shot creation and a real three-point talent has transformed Mobley into a fearsome competitor. If Atkinson hopes to help the Cavaliers realize their full potential in the postseason, it all starts with Evan. This season, the Cavs have a +5.7 point differential with Mobley on the court, per Cleaning the Glass. Defensively, Mobley ranks in the 94th percentile for opponent points per possession against him, and his improved offense helps Cleveland actually transition his defensive impact into points on the other end.
With just half a season as evidence, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have plenty of reasons to believe that Evan Mobley will look just as good in the postseason. In his first half-year with an actual contributing role on offense, Mobley is beginning to show the star potential Cavaliers fans always saw. Now, in the second half of the season, Cleveland's second star must refine his mechanics and overall impact to become a playoff showstopper.