For the Cleveland Cavaliers, the time for celebrating regular season success is over. The way this team will be judged is on their postseason success. That is something that this group is lacking at the moment.
All season, the Cavs have had lingering flashbacks of the bullying the New York Knicks gave them last playoffs. Despite having homecourt advantage, the Wine and Gold were bounced in five games. If they hope to reach their potential as a contender, they must perform at the highest level this postseason.
The loss to the Knicks exposed a lot of the Cavs’ flaws. The lack of shooting, consistent play from the wing spot, veteran leadership, and toughness reared their ugly heads in the loss. Fortunately, the Cavaliers have made strides in each of those categories this season.
They added Max Strus and Georges Niang for shooting, experience, and leadership, and both players have already made their impact in Cleveland this season. They also brought back Tristan Thompson and added Marcus Morris from the buyout market. The Cavs also reinvented their offense and have become less predictable this season.
These improvements have led to a current third seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs will likely get homecourt advantage again if they can maintain their current pace. They have limped their way through the second half of the season, but when healthy, Cleveland has everything they need to make a deep postseason run. Still, there are still questions about this team that they cannot ignore in the playoffs.
Can a frontline of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen work in the postseason?
Going into last year’s postseason, the duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen was considered to be a strength that the Cavs could rely on. Unfortunately, the opposite was true in the series against the Knicks.
Not only did Mobley and Allen get outplayed on the glass by Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein, but neither was a threat at all from the outside. The Knicks clogged the paint, blitzed pick and rolls and dared Mobley and Allen to shoot. That led to questions about whether or not this duo could stay on the court together.
This season, the Cavs had to play a long strength without Mobley, which meant that Allen was the lone big in the frontcourt. As a result, the Cavs had their best offensive stretch of the season.
From December 16 to January 29, the stretch Mobley missed with knee surgery, the Cavs had an offensive rating of 121.2. That was good enough for ninth in the league. The stretch gave the team a gauge of what the offensive ceiling would be with one big man on the court and four shooters.
Since his return from injury, Mobley has been more willing to shoot from three-point range. Over the last two months, he is shooting 45 percent from three, albeit on only around two attempts per game. The fact he is willing to take some threes and make them at a decent clip is a great step forward for the frontcourt's future. The Cavaliers need Mobleys' confidence to continue for their frontcourt duo not to be a liability again.
Will Darius Garland find his consistency?
Year five for Darius Garland has not gone according to plan. Early in the season, he dealt with a nagging hamstring injury that cost him a few games. Then, as soon as he was finding his rhythm, he suffered a fractured jaw that cost him almost two months of game action and ten pounds as well.
With countless setbacks, Garland’s numbers this season are down from last year. His points per game, assists, field goal and three-point percentage have all dipped. While showing flashes at times that the old Garland is still there, he has yet to put together a consistent stretch of good basketball this season. That needs to change with the postseason fast approaching.
Last season, Garland was very up and down against the Knicks. Throughout the series, he averaged 21 points and five assists per game and almost four turnovers per game. He also had a four-for-21 clunker in game three. For the Cavs to go far, Garland needs to not only be aggressive and assertive, but smart as well.
Fortunately, the burden on Garland’s shoulders as the second option is not as big as last year, given the diverse offense the Cavs now have. However, with Donovan Mitchell nursing a knee injury and at less than 100 percent, the Wine and Gold need the Garland of old to show up for the rest of the season.
Will J.B. Bickerstaff take advantage of his depth?
What head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has done for the Cavs this season has been nothing short of amazing. The team’s season outlook became uncomfortably grim when it was announced that Garland and Mobley would be out for an extended period. Bickerstaff revamped the offense, emphasizing putting up more three-pointers, playing with more movement, and picking up the pace. He has been masterful.
For Bickerstaff, though, last season was a rough and daunting postseason. His rotations were questionable, like giving Ricky Rubio playing time, giving up on Isaac Okoro too early and not inserting Lamar Stevens into the rotation for an energy boost until the very end. Bickerstaff also did not adjust his offense or experiment with one big lineup enough, which contributed to the Cavs’ early exit.
One year removed, he has done a better job of adjusting to the personnel he has, and that has allowed the Cavs to discover pieces that can help them in the playoffs. Unexpected contributors like Sam Merrill and Craig Porter Jr. have been unsung heroes for the team this season and have earned playoff minutes - Merrill especially.
Bickerstaff has said that he prefers eight to nine-man rotations. When healthy though, the Cavs easily have 12 guys that they can play in their rotation. Will Bickerstaff take advantage? Or will he be stuck in his ways?
Despite being better equipped for the postseason than last year, there are still questions about this year’s Cleveland Cavaliers squad. These questions will be answered sooner rather than later, but whether the answers are good or bad, they will shape the organization’s future in a big way as contract extensions and possible changes enter the fray.