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2023-2024 Playoffs: March Toward _______?

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Cavs season ends

  • In the first round

    Votes: 22 28.2%

  • In the second round

    Votes: 42 53.8%

  • In the Eastern conference finals

    Votes: 7 9.0%

  • In the NBA finals

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • With Parade #2

    Votes: 7 9.0%
  • Total voters
    78
  • Poll closed .
One thing I haven’t heard mentioned: Evan Mobley going scoreless in the 2nd half (I’m pretty sure he had 16 at the half then finished with 16 pts.)

Did the magic do something different against him defensively? Did he just go cold?

I only had the 2nd half of the game on in the background while I was installing some outdoor speakers, so I didn’t watch the 2nd half very closely.
 
As a follow on to my previous post about the Knicks getting 23 offensive rebounds against Philly yesterday causing me to rethink my feelings about the Cavs getting destroyed in the playoffs last year, Chris Fedor was saying the same thing on his post-game podcast.

He pointed out that Mitchell Robinson is one of the greatest offensive rebounders of all time, that Josh Hart is the best rebounder in the NBA under 6'5", and that Julius Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein are brutes on the glass.

"Not every team is going to have the personnel and the capability of beating up the Cavs the way the Knicks did...Was it the Cavs weren't tough enough, period? Or were they not tough enough against that opponent in that series? I think there is a breakdown in the reality of what happened in that series and it showed it here in Game 1...The Magic don't have Robinson, Hart, and Hartenstein. They don't have Jalen Brunson so some of the breakdowns guarding him that led to those offensive rebounds aren't going to happen in the same way. All the things the Knicks were able to prey on the Magic won't be able to do to the same extent."

I agree. The Sixers allowed an average of 11.5 offensive rebounds per game during the regular season. The Knicks got 23 last night. It's not that the Cavs are soft; it's that the Knicks are that good, especially when the opposing big has to help defend Brunson rather than boxing out his man.

The Knicks are now 21-3 with OG Anunoby on the floor. Embiid is gutting it out but not 100%. It looks like he's playing on one-and-a-half legs. The Knicks will win this series and then take out the winner of Milwaukee/Indiana and get to the EC Finals.
 
Fedor also mentioned that with most of the Orlando players you give up something at one end of the court when you play them. Their coach has to find a five-man unit that can be effective on both ends and so far he hasn't.

Whereas the Cavs have the personnel to play fast or slow, shoot from outside or go inside, and play good defense either way.

For example, Cole Anthony was their best scorer off the bench, but they play a switch-heavy defense which resulted in Anthony guarding Mobley or Allen and the Cavs punished them for it.
 
The 1986-1993 Daugherty - Price - Nance - Harper - Williams Cavaliers (not all were there for all seasons) had five seasons of growth and frustration:

86-87: Drafted Daugherty & Harper, traded for rookie Price on draft day, Williams cleared of bogus point shaving just before draft and also became a rookie. Miss playoffs.

87-88: Drafted Kevin Johnson, traded him mid season for Larry Nance. Cavaliers lose first round to Chicago.

88-89: Start 43-12, easily best team in the NBA most of the season, head injury to Price (FUCK Rick Mahorn), Cavaliers falter and end up 57-25, lose first round 3-2 to Chicago to Jordan’s shot. Easily the most devastating playoff loss and crushing season end in Cavaliers history for me. In early March on a national Sunday TV game Tommy Heinsohn called us a “buzzsaw” and predicted we’d win it all. I was at Games 1 and 5 and it still hurts.

89-90: Lost in first round to Philly 3-2.

90-91: Injuries derail season, no playoffs.

91-92: For the first time in franchise history WE WON A GAME ONE IN A PLAYOFF SERIES!!!!! We beat the Nets and then beat Boston in seven also winning the first game of the series. Lost to Chicago ECF.

92-93: Won first game vs Nets and the series, lost second round to Chicago 4-0.

That 1992 Game 1 win versus the Nets was the last Game 1 win without LeBron until yesterday. We made the playoffs nine of eleven years 1987-97 and only won three Game Ones (two in one season). Those three Game 1 wins all resulted in series wins; we also won the Miracle at Richfield Washington Series 4-3 after losing Game 1 at home (our first ever playoff game).

Cavaliers series record without LeBron:

Win Game 1: 3-0.
Lose Game 1: 1-14

Most of the games had Daugherty - Nance Price etc. Even with those guys we still struggled to win Game 1 and series.

Everybody was WAY too harsh after the Knicks series. Freaking Kevin Durant got blown out by 25. GSW are home. There are always new great athletes entering the sport.

Great win for our franchise yesterday. It took us 22 seasons to get the franchise’s first Game 1 win. Now we have a series to win.
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
As a follow on to my previous post about the Knicks getting 23 offensive rebounds against Philly yesterday causing me to rethink my feelings about the Cavs getting destroyed in the playoffs last year, Chris Fedor was saying the same thing on his post-game podcast.

He pointed out that Mitchell Robinson is one of the greatest offensive rebounders of all time, that Josh Hart is the best rebounder in the NBA under 6'5", and that Julius Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein are brutes on the glass.

"Not every team is going to have the personnel and the capability of beating up the Cavs the way the Knicks did...Was it the Cavs weren't tough enough, period? Or were they not tough enough against that opponent in that series? I think there is a breakdown in the reality of what happened in that series and it showed it here in Game 1...The Magic don't have Robinson, Hart, and Hartenstein. They don't have Jalen Brunson so some of the breakdowns guarding him that led to those offensive rebounds aren't going to happen in the same way. All the things the Knicks were able to prey on the Magic won't be able to do to the same extent."

I agree. The Sixers allowed an average of 11.5 offensive rebounds per game during the regular season. The Knicks got 23 last night. It's not that the Cavs are soft; it's that the Knicks are that good, especially when the opposing big has to help defend Brunson rather than boxing out his man.

The Knicks are now 21-3 with OG Anunoby on the floor. Embiid is gutting it out but not 100%. It looks like he's playing on one-and-a-half legs. The Knicks will win this series and then take out the winner of Milwaukee/Indiana and get to the EC Finals.
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Eh, the Heat in the next round were about even with the Knicks on rebounding stats and won the series pretty easily, so however historically good the Knicks are they weren’t good enough to handle the Heat.
 
cavsfever said:
Eh, the Heat in the next round were about even with the Knicks on rebounding stats and won the series pretty easily, so however historically good the Knicks are they weren’t good enough to handle the Heat.
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And the Heat went on to beat Boston and go to the Finals. They were a damn good team at the end of last season.
 
Cavatt said:
Knicks are beatable, but you can't make mistakes against them and the Cavs aren't close to playing mistake free basketball
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They're very beatable. They aren't a championship contender.

I still don't trust Bickerstaff when we go up against a strong tactical head coach.
 
Heading out at 3. Gonna be a whale of a night. The closest I will have come to JB during a playoff game. He better not start his crap. I will be a breath away.
 
Futuredome said:
Heading out at 3. Gonna be a whale of a night. The closest I will have come to JB during a playoff game. He better not start his crap. I will be a breath away.
Click to expand...
If we someone attacking him after a terrible OOB play, we’ll know who it was.
 
I can make a drunken rant about JB......that guy. The rotations sucked, his.slowdown tempo at the end is annoying. Guy is going against the only team he can beat.
 
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