What getting out of the first round means for the Cavs
The Cavs not only beat the Magic, they beat some internal demons as well.
Franchise-altering victory. A defining moment.
Those were some of the descriptions of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ stunning 18-point comeback victory in Game 7 against the Orlando Magic, propelling them to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. It was an emotional roller coaster of a game, with the first half feeling like a funeral before having the script flipped in the second.
The Cavs hadn’t advanced past the first round in the postseason without LeBron James since 1993 when a gallon of gas was $1.15 and a loaf of bread was 75 cents. Mark Price and Brad Daughtery patrolled the court for the Cavs then and got swept by Michael Jordan in the second round.
In short, it's been a while since the Cavs have done this without James.
There’s also a reason that people were calling Game 7 against the Magic potentially franchise-shifting. Cleveland ended the season in a discouraging fashion. They looked like a team with no poise or cohesiveness. Orlando didn’t just beat them three times in the series, they destroyed them. Darius Garland looked like a shell of himself. Jarrett Allen was out, again. Rumors surrounding Donovan Mitchell’s future swirled constantly, and those winds picked up with every loss. The big offseason moves of Max Strus and Georges Niang were doing more harm than good while on the court. And they were down by as many as 18 points, at home, in a do-or-die scenario.
And yet, despite all of those things, they found a way to win.
Of all of the flaws of this Cavaliers roster, of which there are several, the most disappointing one was that they didn’t seem hungry. They didn’t want to win enough. They even tanked the last game of the regular season to play an Orlando team that they felt was more beatable. That was almost an embarrassingly bad decision.
Heads would have rolled had the Cavs lost and fizzled out of the first round for the second year in a row. J.B. Bickerstaff likely would be cleaning out his office right now. President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman may have been on the chopping block too. The long-term future of everyone on the roster would have been called into question. A loss could have triggered a complete reactor meltdown.
Instead, the Cavs manifested some things they haven’t in quite some time. They showed determination. They showed mental toughness. They showed a desire to win. They showed a weary fan base that they were capable of something more. Maybe most importantly, they proved some things to themselves.
This win for the Cavs was more than just advancing past the first round. It was a huge sigh of relief for an organization that, like a kid in college, is trying to make it out on its own. Mitchell proved that he doesn’t disappear in the playoffs. Allen and Evan Mobley, criticized for shrinking in the playoffs last season, stepped up in big ways. Garland’s confidence, which was shaken, came back in the second half of Game 7.
Whatever happens in the second round against the Boston Celtics, the Cavs did what they set out to do: make it out of the first round. But Mitchell isn’t satisfied, and neither should the Cavs.
After a franchise-altering win, the Cavs are hopefully in the right mindset.
“I don’t mean this disrespectful, but it doesn’t really mean much,” Mitchell said after Game 7. “We didn’t come in just to win the first round. We accomplished one goal, now we have to do it again. That’s the mindset.”