Three weeks from today, the Cavaliers will likely be getting ready for postseason play. Their seeding in the Eastern Conference and who they’ll face that weekend is still way up in the air as we close out the month of March.
After the Cavs welcome the Sixers to town on Friday and head West the following day, they’ll have just eight regular season games to play. After winning 18 of 20 before the All-Star Break, it’s been a frustrating run on the other side. Cleveland hasn’t won consecutive games in the month of March – including the recent split with Charlotte.
With the NCAA Tournament reaching the Sweet 16 and MLB celebrating opening day, the NBA has a light docket. No team with any true Playoff bearing on the Wine & Gold will be in action on Thursday night. On Friday, the rubber hits the road.
The Cavaliers have four games at home (where they’re 23-14 this season) and five on the road (where they’re 21-15) remaining. The regular season wraps up on Sunday afternoon, April 14 against Charlotte at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Before departing for their West Coast trip, they welcome the Sixers (39-34) who sit in the 8th spot, 1.5 games behind the Pacers for the coveted No. 6 seed. The league’s reigning MVP Joel Embiid hasn’t played since January 30, but Coach Nick Nurse has insisted he’ll be back before the end of the regular season.
The Cavs have been bitten by the injury bug as hard as any team in the East after the All-Star Break.
The absence of Donovan Mitchell has hit the hardest, missing 15 of 20 games after making his fifth straight All-Star appearance in Indy. (Cleveland has gone 5-10 in those outings.) Since the Break, Evan Mobley has missed nine games, Max Strus has missed a dozen, Tristan Thompson was out for 13 and Dean Wade for 10.
With New York’s 44-point blowout of the Knicks on Wednesday night, New York leapfrogged the Wine & Gold for the 3rd-seed in the East – 13.0 games behind Boston. The Cavaliers, at No. 4, are 13.0 games back, with Magic 15.0 games back.
The Knicks – who’ve gone 8-2 over their last 10 – have ten games remaining, with opponents that have a combined .535 winning percentage. They have meetings against the Thunder, Bucks and Celtics, play four straight on the road and face Chicago – including the season finale – three times over that stretch.
The Magic – who’ve gone 6-4 –also have ten games to play in the regular season, with their foes posting a combined .488 winning percentage. Orlando plays three of their final four games on the road and two of the final three overall against the Bucks, including the season finale.
Cleveland has gone 3-7, but there’s reason for optimism. Max Strus returned to the lineup on Wednesday and immediately chipped in with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Evan Mobley led Cleveland in scoring in his return on Sunday and handed out a career-best in assists the following night. And at some point, Donovan Mitchell and Dean Wade will re-enter the fold.
Jarrett Allen is still humming along, posting his 36th double-double of the season in Monday’s win and pouring in 24 points on Wednesday. Since mid-December no big man in the East has been as consistently good as Allen – who’s played in 68 straight after missing the first five games of the season with an ankle sprain.
Darius Garland is coming off consecutive double-doubles and has five of those since the Break. Georges Niang has notched double-figures in 10 of his last 12 games, and has suited up for all 73 contests this year. Caris LeVert has handed out at least seven assists in 11 of his last 14 games and will be in the Sixth Man conversation at season’s end. And no reserve in the NBA since December 8 has canned more three-pointers than Sam Merrill (124).
Do the Cavaliers have holes to fix? Most definitely. Sunday’s loss in Miami and Wednesday’s decision in Charlotte were tough pills to swallow – especially for a team that prides itself on the defensive end of the floor. Allowing an 18-54 team to shoot 58 percent from the floor is almost inexcusable.
But the Cavaliers have shown how good they can be when they’re humming – including their 41-assist effort in Monday’s one-sided win.
The Wine & Gold have a couple more weeks to get healthy and find their groove – to rediscover the formula that saw them run roughshod over the league in the early days 2024.
It all starts on Friday night against Philly.